New Juan Mata extension rumors have appeared today

Last week we heard a silly story about Chelsea offering a bunch of cash along with the services of their best player for the right to overpay Wayne Rooney. We then heard the even more ridiculous story that Manchester United had refused that silly offer. The club have since confirmed placing a bid for Rooney, but have made it clear that no players were involved in the deal.

ESPN have taken the denial a bit further today, claiming that the club had already begun trying to extend their Spanish playmaker. Here's what they had to say:

Chelsea swiftly denied the story, and Stamford Bridge insiders have told ESPN that they were already in the process of tying down Mata’s future at that point.

The 25-year-old’s current deal ends in 2016, but Chelsea want to extend that to 2018 and also raise his wages from under £70,000 a week to £100,000.

We've been hearing talks of a Mata extension for a while, but it's always good to see fresh talk of it appearing in the media. Regardless of how accurate the ESPN reports are, it's just nice to read something other than the Spanish media shopping Mata to everyone.

Hopefully all this talk of an extension will end before the season begins, and Chelsea will have announced a new 5-year deal with the player. I'd imagine that would make just about everyone here smile.