Manchester United manager David Moyes revealed the background to the club's record move which brought Juan Mata from Chelsea to Manchester United.

"I'm thrilled," he said. "I got wind of it a month or two ago that it could be a possibility and I never really believed we'd pull it off and actually I've been saying in nearly all press conferences I've had to do that I didn't think we'd get the chance to do much business in January, I didn't think the players we would be interested in would be available, but when we got the sniff that there was a chance that Juan could be available then we went after it right away. "

Playmaker Mata spoke to the media for the first time yesterday following Saturday's 37.1 million pounds ($61.22 million) move. he club revealed he would wear the number eight shirt rather than the number seven used by former greats David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona.

The 25-year-old Mata struggled for game time this season under Jose Mourinho, with Chelsea's manager preferring an attacking midfield trio comprising Brazilian internationals Oscar and Willian and Belgium winger Eden Hazard. Mata said he had no hard feelings about his old club.

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