Juan Mata has assumed a major leadership role with Manchester United during these past couple seasons. Right before Christmas, he told the fans that the team is “deeply sorry” for the team’s disastrous run of form. He told the fans what they needed to hear.
Juat like earlier in the month when Juan Mata told the fans what they wanted to hear.
Mata had indeed become one of the faces of the franchise.
The past two seasons, Mata wrote a blog for United’s official site, and this past summer he was truly a stabilizing force during the David de Gea soap opera. Mata acted as a spokesman of sorts while it was in the interests of his countryman not to speak with the media. That was crucial, as De Gea transitioned back to the team.
Today, Juan Mata spoke about football issues beyond just Man United, saying he would take a pay cut if football was less of a business. The Spaniard, who then broke the United club transfer fee record at £37.1 million when he came from Chelsea to Old Trafford, said that he earns an “obscene” amount.
The midfielder also says it “scares” him to see the struggles his friends go through while he at the same time lives a lavish lifestyle.
Speaking on Spanish news show Salvados, Juan Mata said: “I can understand what they [the fans] are referencing.”
“In the business of football, it seems the owners are more important than the supporters. It is nothing like the football of old, where there was not such a media involvement or people with so many vested interests.
“I don’t enjoy the business side of football. I love the game, I love training and competing. I’d happily take a pay cut if there was less business involvement in the sport.
“At this level we’re very well paid, and sometimes you get to thinking that there really isn’t much of a difference between ‘X’ and ‘X+3’.
“My first professional contract was at Real Madrid Castilla. I was 18 years old and I think I earned something like €90,000 a year.
“Football is very well remunerated at this level. It’s like we live in a bubble. With respect to the rest of society, we earn a ridiculous amount. It’s unfathomable.”
Mata said he earned a “normal wage” in the world of football, but “compared to 99.9 percent of Spain and the rest of the world, I earn an obscene amount.”
Juan Mata added: “Real life is the one my friends live. They’ve had to look for work, sign on to the dole and emigrate. That’s normal life now.
“My life as a footballer is not normal. It scares me sometimes to think about just how protected I am. The smallest problem and someone will come and fix it for me. That’s one of the aspects in which we don’t live a normal life.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication andBold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram