Manchester United’s Juan Mata is a shock transfer target for Barcelona .
But he would have to take a pay cut to join the La Liga champions next season, it has been claimed.
Mata is expected to leave Old Trafford once his contract runs out in June.
He wants to play in Spain – but wasn’t expecting Barca to show interest.
But the catch is that he will have to play for less than his £170,000-a-week he earns at United to make the dream move happen, report The Sun.
The 31-year-old feels he has two more seasons left at the highest level despite not playing every week at United.
(Image: Getty Images)
A new deal hasn’t been totally ruled out but Mata is considering his options.
He can leave for free and Barcelona are keen to add more depth to their squad as they prepare another challenge next season.
He could be joining the European champions if the Spanish side continue to impress in the Champions League.
They face Liverpool on Wednesday night and are two legs away from the final.
Barca’s Ivan Rakitic says he doesn’t need telling how good Liverpool forward three are.
(Image: Ryan Browne/BPI/REX)
“I have a lot of respect for Liverpool as Klopp’s teams have always been very organised, and he has managed to improve his players,” he said.
”It will be quite difficult to defend them because they are very good. We need to stop them running at our defence. We are going there to score but we mustn’t lose our heads
”I hope we can stop them as soon as possible, control the tempo of the game and keep them away from our goal.
”We have to understand that they are a good team who know what football they [need to] play. We have to prepare our game, play a great match and understand what we have to do.”
