JUAN MATA FOR AARON RAMSEY

         How does Aron Ramsey coming to Manchester United and Juan Mata heading to Arsenal sound to Manchester United fans? Good? Unsettling? A little mixture of both Good and Both Unsettling? Or are the Manchester United fans simple unsure of how they feel having either player on the Manchester United team? Well, Manchester United better make their pick quickly because this swap deal between both Arsenal seem prepared to happen as soon as the January 2019 transfer window kicks in. 

        January is right around the corner and rumors of Jose Mourinho already making a list of players to exit the doors at Manchester United might be true after all and Juan Mata appears to have unfortunately made the list. The news broke about a possible swap deal between Manchester United and Arsenal this past Thursday that both players had reached the end of their current contract with no talks over contract renewal being held by either of the respected clubs. On Manchester United part, Juan Mata makes for a triple threat for Jose Mourinho when you factor in the idea that Mata can play three important positions in Manchester United's formation this season.

      Right-wing, center mid and of course his preferred central attacking midfield. Pretty impressive triple threat combination. In fact, the consistent, strong performance Juan Mata contributes, more often than not, on the field for Manchester United has been very satisfactory. Although arguments can be that Aaron Ramseys performance rate for Arsenal football club last season and the early stages of the current 2018-2019 campaign is impressive with his combined statistic standing at a combined rough total  of 12 goals and 12 assists in all competitions ( excluding his defensive rate, the amount of space he covers in the field and the completed pass rate executed by the Welsh midfielder) .

     Impressive! very impressive statistic indeed from the Welshman. But before the gavel sounds and supports the idea of Manchester United and Arsenal swapping players in January, perhaps taking a look at Juan Mata’s recent statistic as a Manchester United player. At a combination of the 2017- 2019 calendar and the combination of the matches Juan Mata played in the last two seasons, Spanish midfield Juan Mata has managed a total of 5 goal and 9 assists.

     Judging from the statistics of both players, a number of Manchester United supporters and a number of sports analysts might start to wonder why Manchester United will want to hesitate in parting ways with Juan Mata and bringing Aron Ramsey over to Manchester United as soon as possible especially considering how stagnant the creativity of Manchester United's midfield tends to be during the mid-way point of the season? Aron Ramsey’s current salary will cost Manchester United a total of 2.86 million dollars to bring the  Welsh midfielder from northern England to the city of Greater Manchester. 

      Sounds like a good bargain deal for Manchester United to make this January and Aaron Ramsey’s quality in the midfield will be an extra incentive for Jose Mourinho to consider resting some of Manchester United's big-name players Paul Pogba and Fred during trivial matches in the Premier League.

      The big worry for Manchester United will be, should the club decide to proceed with bringing Aaron Ramsey over to Old Trafford and in reverse sending Juan Mata over to Arsenal? Will the process really result in any level of improvement in terms of creativity and in terms of increasing the team overall productivity? As decent, (decent will probably be a debatable choice of words in the midst of certain crowds) however, as decent as Juan Mata’s overall output to the Manchester United team has been, the question remains: will Aaron Ramsey be any better in a Manchester United shirt than Juan Mata is currently doing at the moment? To be honest, that is a tricky question to tackle a little bit mainly because both players are not really operating in the same position.

     While Juan Mata’s main responsibility from the central attacking position will be to create goal scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates through precise passes and accurate shooting, Aaron Ramsey is a player that is more adept to sitting deep, breaking the oppositions attacking rhythm and defending from the deep end of his own half. Very difficult to say if bringing the Welsh midfielder over to Manchester United in exchange for Juan Mata will be a completely positive move for Jose Mourinho to make in January.

        All emotions aside, the truth has to be said that as good a player as Juan Mata has been for Manchester United over the years, the Spanish midfielders productivity seems to have dropped off in recent years. In the past two years-2017-2018- for Manchester United, Juan Mata has averaged a total of 3 goals and 5 assists in 28 games. although this statistics is with the exemption of the statistics of the current 2018-2019 season which is rightfully too premature to play a factor in the trade decision.

     Regardless of the statistics both players produce between now and the end of January 2019, the current statistics gotten from the performance of both players clearly shows a distinct similarity between the performance of both players which points to the possibility that there appears to be no huge beneficial change, except the probability of both clubs saving a few tax dollars by swapping players already playing their football in England instead of spending enormous amount on signing new players all the way across Europe, there appears to be no other significant benefits to be received from both Manchester United and Arsenal to be had should both clubs give the go-ahead order for this deal to be done.

      No official statements have been made by either Manchester United or Arsenal concerning the swap deal as the futures of both Aaron Ramsey and Juan Mata still hanging in the air with both players club contracts set to expire by the Summer of 2019. The fact that no representative from both Manchester United and Arsenal have made no official statement on the future of both players will continue to fuel speculations that the trade might indeed go through in January without the knowledge of the media.     

       Finally, frankly, if the recent history of swap deals with Arsenal is any indication, this might be a very good opportunity for Manchester United to strengthen the depth of their squad even more as we head to the middle of the season. think about the past swap deals between both clubs: The Danny Welbeck for Robin Van Persie deal worked out well for Manchester United correct?  Yes! And let’s not forget the swap between both clubs for Alexis Sanchez and Henrick Mkhitaryan. While some judge the trade of Henrik Mkhitaryan for Alexis Sanchez as inconclusive due to the unstable performance Alexis Sanchez delivers for Manchester United.

       Manchester United appear to be content with having the Chilean winger in their team because there have been no serious mentions of Manchester United possibly selling Alexis Sanchez this January. Should Ramsey Join Manchester United this January, the number of matches which will include Ramsey in the starting lineup will possibly be a lot less but Aaron Ramsey will be another magnificent option for Manchester to have on the bench.