Chelsea are on the verge of a new chapter with the likely appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, who has a huge crop of young talent already at the club to try and mould into a consistent, winning machine.
One of his principal concerns will be the Blues’ lacklustre form in front of goal as they have only netted 34 times in 34 top-flight games, which is the 16th-lowest in the league – a dismal reflection upon their potency and lack of chance-creation.
Back in the day, one former player who possessed these two attributes in glorious abundance was Juan Mata, who in his two-and-a-half seasons at Stamford Bridge, was simply unplayable.
How did Juan Mata perform at Chelsea?
The Spaniard joined the west London outfit in the summer of 2011 for a fee of £23.5m from Valencia.
"His curriculum speaks for itself. He's a player who scores and assists and he can add to any squad in the world," claimed the manager at the time, Andre Villas-Boas.
The playmaker announced himself to fans in a magnificent manner as he scored the final goal in a 3-1 win over Norwich City on his debut.
Mata’s first season with Chelsea was during the tumultuous reign of the Portuguese boss, who was eventually sacked after a poor run of results and replaced by Roberto Di Matteo.
The Spanish maestro prevailed as one of the club’s most influential and productive assets in the crucial part of the season. He set up Ramires for the first goal of the 2012 FA Cup final victory over Liverpool and was also awarded Man of the Match.
Even more imperatively, the 41-cap international then provided the assist for Didier Drogba’s emphatic equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, which the Blues eventually triumphed on penalties.
During his second year in England, the attacking midfielder formed a formidable triumvirate with Oscar and Eden Hazard. The star notched 11 goals and 17 assists in the Premier League in a scintillating stretch of form.
In these two campaigns, he was named Chelsea’s Player of the Year, just to further underline his quality.
Mata departed Chelsea with 90 goal contributions in 135 appearances in all competitions – a ridiculous record for a player with a ruthless end product.
The former Valencia whiz then spent eight years at Manchester United and teammate Victor Lindelof eulogised over his talent and said:
“As a player, the quality he has is amazing. His vision, his touch, and his ability to see everything on the pitch is fantastic.
“In training, you see the things he can do with the ball – it’s unbelievable. He’s a top, top player, and he has shown that for many years.”
Kai Havertz has often been deployed in similar areas at the moment, but he is a shadow of his midfield counterpart’s influence.
For example, the versatile German attacker has long struggled for form since his move to Stamford Bridge, particularly this season where he has scored seven goals and laid on the solitary assist, via Transfermarkt.
When reminiscing over Mata’s brief but trophy-laden Chelsea stint, it is a wonderful reminder of his consistency and magisterial elegance, which no current player at Stamford Bridge has been able to remotely emulate under Graham Potter or Frank Lampard.
Oh how the interim head coach could do with a player of his quality today.
