Former Manchester United and Chelsea star Juan Mata has created a bit of historical past this week as the primary energetic participant to grow to be a membership proprietor in Main League Soccer.
Mata will have a good time his thirty seventh birthday within the coming months however is prolonging his profession with Western Sydney Wanderers, having joined the Australian membership in September following a shortlived spell in Japan with Vissel Kobe. The 2010 World Cup winner’s final European membership was Galatasaray in 2022/23.
However Mata’s off-field ambitions have taken a giant step ahead after becoming a member of the possession group at San Diego FC, the latest membership in MLS as a result of begin taking part in in 2025.
Just one different former worldwide participant is concerned in MLS possession, however David Beckham had ended his profession a number of years earlier than launching Inter Miami in 2018 – the ex-England captain was given a $25m growth workforce buy possibility when he signed with LA Galaxy in 2007.
As a accomplice in San Diego, Mata joins Egyptian-British billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a Native American tribe from southern California who had been searching for alternatives to spend money on sporting ventures since late 2020.
Mata is already an investor in Method 1 workforce Alpine Racing and was a co-founder of the Frequent Objective motion, a charitable organisation the place members – usually gamers, coaches and others concerned in soccer – pledge to donate 1% of their wage to fund social change. One other enterprise noticed him spend money on a Manchester tapas and wine bar alongside his father.
This is not even Mata’s first time placing cash right into a soccer membership. In 2012, throughout his time with Chelsea, the participant purchased shares in boyhood workforce Actual Oviedo with fellow Premier League stars Santi Cazorla and Michu to assist maintain the membership afloat.
