Lindelof praises 'fantastic' birthday boy Mata
Victor Lindelof has saluted team-mate and birthday boy Juan Mata, who celebrates turning 34 today (28 April).
The Spanish World Cup winner, who joined United in January 2014 and has made 281 appearances since then, is one of the most popular first-team players among fans.
And he is equally well liked by the rest of the playing squad and the club's staff, as Lindelof's latest comments illustrate.
Goal of the Day: Mata v Derby County Video
Goal of the Day: Mata v Derby County
Happy 34th birthday to the wonderful Juan Mata, seen here bagging against Derby in 2016...
The Swede sat down with our matchday programme United Review ahead of Thursday's match against Chelsea, and was asked to name his favourite thing about Juan as a player.
“As a player, the quality he has is amazing,” enthused Victor. “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.”
The Spaniard lifted the Champions League, the Europa League and the FA Cup during his playing days at Chelsea, and claimed the latter two pieces of silverware again at United.
He has also won 41 caps for Spain, and helped them to lift the World Cup in 2010 and then reclaim their European Championship crown in 2012. In a 4-0 victory over Italy in the final of the 2012 Euros, Mata scored the fourth and final goal.
But as good as Mata is from a playing perspective, he's arguably even better as a human and a team-mate, according to Lindelof.
Lindelof: Elanga can be a future great
ArticleVictor has one key piece of advice to offer his Sweden team-mate, on his 20th birthday.
“As a person, he’s just a fantastic guy,” said the defender. “Always happy and always positive. I don’t know what else to say about him – he’s just a great guy!”
Anyone that has met the 34-year-old would surely agree with that, as would the many thousands touched by the charitable movement that Mata set up in 2017: Common Goal.
Happy Birthday, Juan. We're proud you are a Red!
Feliz cumpleaños, @JuanMata8🎈
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 28, 2022
Join us in wishing our no.8️⃣ a happy birthday!#MUFC pic.twitter.com/c3hPfspxIS
Juan’s got that birthday feeling 😃🕺
— Manchester United Foundation (@MU_Foundation) April 28, 2022
Wishing the happiest of days to @ManUtd’s no. 8️⃣ 🎉🥳@juanmata8 | #JuanMata 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/CACxj486H6
Hugs for the birthday boy 🤗❤️@JuanMata8 | #JuanMata pic.twitter.com/Gfx3jHlIOb
— Manchester United Foundation (@MU_Foundation) April 28, 2022
Is this birthday boy @juanmata8's greatest ever #PL goal? 🪄#MUNCHE pic.twitter.com/cnJUaz4eqb
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 28, 2022
Back to Top