Arsenal Transfer News: Juan Mata Not For Sale, Claim Chelsea

By Diarmuid Hickey / August 28, 2013

reports the Irish Times Arsenal boss Arséne Wenger had insisted that the player was "on the market" in interviews following their facile Champions League victory on Tuesday night.

I have heard like you, because I watched the game last night that Juan Mata could be on the market... I don't know ... there is anyway a reluctance in England to sell to each other. I like him.

Wenger, who hasn't made a major signing all summer, is running out of time in this summer's transfer market, and almost signed the Spaniard 2 years ago before he plumbed for their bitter London rivals. The 25-year-old has been Chelsea's "Player of the Season" for the past 2 seasons, but has yet to start under José Mourinho, and with three new big-money midfield signings in at Stamford Bridge, it looks increasingly likely that there will be an exit for at least one member of Chelsea's expensively-assembled midfield pool.