Manchester United manager David Moyes believes record signing Juan Mata can help fill the vacant place left by the injured Robin van Persie in the derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Spain international, who joined from Chelsea for £37.1 million in January, is desperate to play a more central role and his manager now has the chance to utilize his talents as Wayne Rooney is moved upfront.
“There isn’t any club in Europe or the world who wouldn’t want Robin van Persie playing centre-forward for them and for us it’s a massive miss,” Moyes told a news conference on Monday.
“He changed the Champions League game (scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 second leg win at Old Trafford before injuring himself as United secured a 3-2 aggregate last 16 victory over Greek side Olympiacos) with the goals he scored but I’ve got to say that Juan Mata came to play two or three different positions.
“I think that Juan’s come in and played very well on Saturday. He’s done well in all the games but on Saturday he was closer to scoring himself and maybe should have on a couple of occasions,” added Moyes of a victory where Rooney netted twice.
Source: Sokkaa