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Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata admits it will be 'weird' seeing Wayne Rooney in Everton shirt

The former United captain rejoined his boyhood club this summer, 13 years after first leaving the club for Old Trafford in a £27m move

Samuel Lovett
Monday 11 September 2017 13:56 BST
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Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney during their time together at United
Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney during their time together at United

Juan Mata has admitted it will be “weird” seeing former teammate Wayne Rooney in an Everton shirt when Manchester United take on the Toffees this weekend.

The former United captain rejoined his boyhood club this summer, 13 years after first leaving Merseyside for Old Trafford in a £27m move.

Rooney, who played 559 times for United, scoring 253 goals during his time there, is expected to line up against his old teammates on Sunday when Jose Mourinho’s men take on Everton.

Writing in a recent blog on his website, Mata admitted it would be strange to see Rooney as an opposition player and warned his teammates that they will need to tread carefully against Everton after taking on Basel in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

“Now it’s time to focus on the Champions League, which is back at Old Trafford,” he wrote. “We’re really looking forward to listening again to that nice music before the game, and we’re sure the atmosphere in the stadium is going to be amazing, as it always is during the big European nights.

“We play against Basel, who won the last league in Switzerland with authority. We have to be focused because it would be very important to start with a win, even more considering that we have to play Everton, a tough opponent, on the weekend.

“They’ve just suffered a tough defeat against Tottenham, but they have made very good signings and of course they have a player like Wayne Rooney.

“I hope Old Trafford will welcome him as he deserves. It will be weird to see Wayne playing with a different shirt, to be honest, but this is the decision he made last summer and we wish him the best of luck.”

Since returning to Everton, Rooney has scored two league goals from four appearances.

He recently announced his international retirement from England.

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