Mata speaks about the summer's worth of rumours

Despite many sources linking Juan Mata with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, said move never materialised, and the two-time Chelsea player of the year remains with the club. And now he's talking, as we might expect, about how transfer rumorus and normal and how much he likes life at Chelsea.

I think it's normal in every transfer window that there are lots of rumours, but I'm happy here. It's been a very, very good two seasons for me here, maybe the best of my career, and what I want this season is the same. I'm looking forward to achieving as many trophies as we did the last two seasons, and hopefully this is going to be a good season for us again.

My only aim is to play here, grow as a player and do as good a season as the last two which were amazing for me. These two seasons have flown by... but to me this is good because, when you are enjoying things and you are happy, time goes quicker.

I had four weeks off [ahead of pre-season training] and to be honest that's too much time for me, because in the last five or six years I didn't have this sort of rest. But I've had plenty of rest and now I'm feeling really good. The best thing for me is to play because I love to play.

-Source: Chelsea TV via ESPN Soccernet.

To be honest, it's the last set that's most interesting. I'd expect Mata to say some vaguely nice things now that the window's closed and he's still a Chelsea player, even if he was interested in going, and some vaguely nice things were said. No, what's interesting here is that he's claiming that he's now fully fit -- the thigh injury, a lack of sharpness from preseason and the strength of the opposition he was facing were Jose Mourinho's obvious excuses for putting Mata on the bench.

If Mata's saying he's good to go, though, there are no more excuses for keeping him out of the starting lineup. Should be interesting.