Modest Mata happy to stay at Valencia

VALENCIA winger Juan Mata has distanced himself from a move to the Premier League or anywhere else this summer, reiterating that he is happy to remain at Mestalla.

The Spain star, who was part of Vicente del Bosque’s World Cup-winning squad last year and led the U21 side to glory in the European Championship earlier this summer, has repeatedly claimed to be content at Valencia.

Nevertheless, transfer speculation has continued and the player has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham this summer.

His coach, Unai Emery, admitted that Valencia may sell if a big team comes in with an attractive offer, telling Cadena Copa: “Valencia has to be prepared for a footballer having to leave, either because is he is not wanted or because some big club wants to sign him.

“We want him to stay and Mata has also expressed his wish to remain at Valencia, but we know that if a big-money offer comes in from any club and it’s good for both the player and the club, it could lead to his exit.”

But Mata says he is focused on his current club and, in remarks reported by Marca, said: “I have never said I want to leave.

“From here to August 31, if there are any offers then the first to know about it will be the club. I never said I wasn’t happy here. There’s no point speaking about suppositions. I like to talk about realities. I am very relaxed because if there is anything, the club will assess it.

Mata claims he is used to dealing with transfer talk, in any case, having been tipped to move to Barcelona during last summer’s World Cup and then heavily linked with several sides during the recent Euros.

“For me, isolating myself is no problem,” he said.

“I already went through it at the World Cup and at the European U21 Championship.

“I know the boss said something yesterday (about the possibility of me leaving), but I am not aware of any offer having arrived.”

Meanwhile Everton are determined to hang on to centre-back Phil Jagielka in the face of a bid from Arsenal.

The Gunners made a £10 million offer to take the 28-year-old to the Emirates Stadium which was rejected out of hand.

The Merseyside club view the bid as being well below the player’s market value, particularly as the defender signed a new four-year contract in March.

Everton have yet to make any signings so far this summer and their tight finances means manager David Moyes is likely to have to sell players in order to be able to bring in new faces.

But Jagielka is not one of those on the list which the Toffees boss is looking to offload, although should a bid closer to the club’s valuation of about £20m come in they would have to seriously consider it.

Arsenal have also been linked with Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill and Blackburn’s Chris Samba and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger could well explore those options.