SPORT BLOG BY ALLISON KAYODE: January 2014

He told French football website Foot Mercato: "I don't know much about it. I read the press and I saw my name written next to Newcastle, but I don't have more information than this."

He added: "The transfer window closes on Friday so we'll see.

"I've still got lots of objectives I want to achieve personally and collectively with Lyon. I'm not thinking about the transfer window and transfer rumours."

Cabaye completed his £19m move to Paris St-Germain on Wednesday.

Newcastle, currently eighth in the Premier League, have signed Borussia Monchengladbach striker Luuk de Jong on loan.

Ignacio Scocco joins Sunderland

Sunderland have signed striker Ignacio Scocco on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

The Argentina international, 28, joins from Brazilian side Internacional.

Compatriots Oscar Ustari and Santiago Vergini are already on Wearside, having been signed earlier this month.

Sunderland, who on Wednesday moved out of the Premier League relegation zone for the first time since August, have also recently signed defender Marcos Alonso on loan from Fiorentina.

Asked about Scocco in April, South American football expert Tim Vickerywrote in his weekly BBC Sport column: "He might not be a big target man centre-forward, but he has some penalty area presence and moves outside the area with fluidity and intelligence."

The deal further increases head coach Gus Poyet's forward options after he recalled striker Conor Wickham from a temporary spell at Sheffield Wednesday.

Nobody likes a showoff! Fresh from his derby double, Sturridge hits the town in his new car... a £200,000 Ferrari

Daniel Sturridge was a happy man on Wednesday. And not just because of his Merseyside derby double the night before...

According to the Liverpool Echo, the in-form striker paraded his new wheels on the streets of Liverpool, a car which only one with Premier League wages could afford.

Sturridge's stunning new £200,000 Ferrari 458 - which has a top speed of 202mph and does 0-60mph in just 3.3 seconds - is one of the first of its type in the UK. The car is almost as quick as the play between himself and Luis Suarez in the 4-0 win over Everton at Anfield, then.

But it wasn't all good news for Sturridge on Tuesday night.

The striker missed a penalty and was substituted before he could seal his hat-trick, leading to a touchline confrontation with manager Brendan Rodgers.

The striker duly said sorry for his actions. ‘I want to apologise for my reaction,’ he told BT Sport. ‘It was just disappointment after missing the penalty, but I let myself down and the fans. I apologise if it caused anyone any offence.'

Sturridge won the man of the match award for his performance, and Rodgers said that the incident is water under the bridge.

‘It was just frustration on his part, but there is no problem,' said the Liverpool boss after the win. 'He apologised to the group. I always say to the players that they must show respect to the club and that when the manager makes a decision like this, it’s not because someone has played poorly.'

Newcastle line up £11m Grenier as Cabaye completes £23m PSG switch

Paris Saint-Germain have completed a deal to sign Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle for £23million.

The French league leaders announced the signing shortly after the midfielder passed a medical and have confirmed the midfielder will wear No 4.

PSG unveiled their new signing at a press conference on Wednesday. Cabaye has penned a three-and-a-half-year contract at the Parc des Princes.

The French champions said in a statement: 'Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to announce the transfer of Yohan Cabaye to the capital club from Newcastle United until June 2017. He will wear the number four jersey.'

Cabaye said of his move: 'I was won over by the ambitious project at Paris Saint-Germain and I can't wait to join this exceptional squad and help the team reach its objectives in France and in Europe.

'I want to thank everyone and Newcastle for allowing me to make this move. It was difficult to turn down such a huge club. Newcastle respected the agreement we had to allow me to leave this January. I had a wonderful time over there, I want to thank the manager, the staff.

'I am very, very happy to return to France.

'The offer from Paris Saint-Germain was hard to refuse, I want to win titles and PSG offer me that so it is an ideal club. I did not hesitate.

'I am proud to have a chance to be a part of this ambitious project, to have the opportunity to win titles and play in the Champions League.'

Arsenal fly in for Draxler and are confident of securing £37m deal for Schalke star

Arsenal were rushing to complete a £37million swoop for Schalke sensation Julian Draxler on Wednesday night.

The Gunners are increasingly confident that a deal to sign the 20-year-old will be completed before Friday night’s transfer deadline.

Sportsmail first revealed Arsenal’s pursuit of Draxler earlier this month, with manager Arsene Wenger believing the Germany forward can be moulded into the next Robin van Persie or Thierry Henry.

Arsenal chiefs have flown to Gelsenkirchen in an attempt to push through the move. Negotiations will continue through Thursday, but there is a strong feeling a deal will be concluded.

Schalke are refusing to budge on their £37m valuation. Arsenal have been reluctant to go above £30m but fears of missing out on a player Wenger desperately wants have forced them to ramp up their efforts. The attacking midfielder is nursing an ankle injury but should be fit by the end of February.

Wenger is also keen on taking young Spaniards Cristian Tello and Alvaro Morata on loan.

Arsenal have enquired about Barcelona’s Tello and have made fresh contact with Real Madrid regarding Morata.

Aaron Ramsey could be out for a month, with the thigh injury that has kept him out since Boxing Day causing him discomfort in training on Monday.

Jack Wilshere is also set to miss Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace with an ankle problem, while Mathieu Flamini is banned after his red card against Southampton. Arsenal hope Tomas Rosicky will be fit after recovering from illness and a broken nose.

Here today, gone tomorrow! Guardiola admits United target Kroos could be on the move after midfielder storms off during Stuttgart win

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester United target Toni Kroos could leave the club before Friday's transfer window deadline.

The midfielder reacted angrily after being substituted during his side's dramatic 2-1 comeback win against Stuttgart on Wednesday, fuelling speculation that he will head for the Munich exit.

United boss David Moyes is prepared to offer £25million for the Germany star, as revealed by Sportsmail on Tuesday.

Speaking after his side's victory, Guardiola said: 'He (Kroos) is an important player but things can move fast in football.

'Here today, gone tomorrow.'

Kroos threw his gloves to the ground on his walk to the dugout after being replaced by Claudio Pizarro in the 60th minute against Stuttgart.

Pizarro grabbed Bayern's equaliser 16 minutes after coming on, before Thiago Alcantara executed a perfect scissor kick to secure three points in added time.

Moyes watched Kroos in action against Borussia Monchengladbach last Friday night and after the game the midfielder admitted there were no plans for further talks on renewing a contract that runs out at the end of next season and he was in the dark over his future.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Sunderland 1-0 Stoke: Hot shot Johnson moves Poyet's men out of the drop zone as N'Zonzi sees red

Sunderland winger Adam Johnson scored his sixth goal in five games as Sunderland climbed out of the bottom three for the first time since August.

The 26-year-old forced the ball home in the 17th minute after Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic failed to gather a speculative effort from Fabio Borini.

Stoke midfielder Steven N’Zonzi was sent off in the 53rd minute after being shown a second yellow card following a clash with Jozy Altidore.

Aston Villa 4-3 West Brom: Benteke hands Lambert derby spoils in seven-goal thriller

Christian Benteke scored the crucial winning goal as Aston Villa came out on top in a frenetic derby against West Brom.

The visitors took a two-goal lead through Chris Brunt and an own goal from Fabian Delph, but Delph was one of the scorers in Villa's reply.

Andreas Weimann and Leandro Bacuna got the others, and though Youssouf Mulumbu grabbed an equalizer, Benteke netted a second-half penalty to give Paul Lambert's side the win.

Chelsea 0-0 West Ham: What's the Mata at the Bridge? Mourinho rages as Blues fall behind in title race after stuttering stalemate against battling Hammers

If anyone personified the London derby it was James Collins trudging off at half-time with his shirt torn to shreds as his team damaged Chelsea's title ambitions.

Quite how Jose Mourinho's team failed to collect three points will remain something of a puzzle since they were so dominant but West Ham deserve credit for a valiant defensive display.

Collins and his back-four were well protected by an industrious midfield. They limited Chelsea mainly to shots from distance and when the home team did penetrate the defensive shield they found goalkeeper Adrian in good form.Oscar hit bar early in the game but the home team gradually became frustrated by their failure to find the net.

Mourinho was infuriated as West Ham took their time getting the ball back into play, broke up the rhythm of the game and the Chelsea manager exploded when Joey O'Brien cut down Willian from behind.

The manager gesticulated, lobbied the officials and cajoled his players. Yet, on the pitch, the anxiety crept in, risks were taken and the visitors had chances on the break, the best of which fell to Andy Carroll, who miscued horribly.

For Carroll, it was a first start in the Barclays Premier League this season, and it made for the kind of physical battle for Chelsea centre-halves John Terry and Gary Cahill which is becoming increasingly rare.

The game was just six minutes old when Carroll escaped their attention and drifted away from Cesar Azpilicueta as Stewart Downing delivered a deep cross from the left.

Azpilicueta misjudged the ball in the air, seemed to lose his bearings and bumped into Carroll as the centre forward controlled the ball on his chest. Carroll fell and Allardyce screamed for a penalty but none was given.

No goals, No starts... and now an £8m loss! Cardiff set to take big hit on Danish flop striker Cornelius

Cardiff City are prepared to cut their losses on Andreas Cornelius, the striker whose hefty transfer fee contributed to the sacking of Malky Mackay.

The club are understood to be in talks with FC Copenhagen over a £3million deal, just months after buying the striker from the Danish club for £7.668m.

Sportsmail revealed last month the staggering finances involved in a deal that enraged owner Vincent Tan.

The striker nets wages of £45,000 a week at Cardiff, having earned £6,000 a week at Copenhagen but despite the huge outlay, which included a signing on fee of £1.25m, he has not scored for the Welsh club.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already planned for the 20-year-old’s exit with the signing of Kenwyne Jones from Stoke and intends to sign another striker before the transfer window closes.

FC Copenhagen’s official Twitter feed confirmed the developments on Wednesday. It read: ‘FC Copenhagen to announce that the club is close to closing a deal with Andreas Cornelius. More to follow in the coming days. ‘

Middlesbrough and CSKA Moscow are reportedly interested in the striker.

TRANSFER COLUMN PART II: Everton target Gomis after Lukaku injury as West Brom and Sunderland join race for McCormack By SIMON JONES

Everton are considering a bid for Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis after Romelu Lukaku injured his ankle against Liverpool on Tuesday night.

The influential Belgian has damaged his ligaments and faces three to four weeks on the sidelines.

They need another strike option as Lacina Traore is still some way off with his hamstring injury and Arouna Kone is out for most of the season.

France international Gomis is a long-time target of Newcastle’s but they grew tired of negotiating for the 28-year-old and have switched their attention to midfield and Clement Grenier to replace Yohan Cabaye. Lyon need the money but Gomis is out of contract in the summer and ready to leave after enduring a strained relationship with the club.

Everton ideally want younger players but, if Lyon can be tempted with a bid of around £3million, they may be able to reach an agreement.

Manager Roberto Martinez also remains keen to bring in another defensive midfielder on loan from abroad. He had designs on Gueida Fofana from Lyon but they are not prepared to deal with Grenier’s pending move and Arsenal considering Yoan Gourcuff as an alternative to other plans.

THE TRANSFER COLUMN PART I: Luiz could become latest Chelsea favourite to see Jose's axe with Pep's Bayern looming... and which MK Dons star is Moyes eyeing?

Bayern Munich will revive their interest in a deal for Chelsea’s David Luiz this summer.

Coach Pep Guardiola had flirted with the idea of bringing in Thiago Silva from Paris St Germain but accepts there are too many obstacles in the way of that particular deal.

He has been impressed with Luiz particularly in how he adopted a more serious outlook to his game under Rafa Benitez last season and believes he could implement his ideals of utilising the ball better from central defensive positions at Bayern.

At this stage of his thinking, it would be at the expense of Jerome Boateng who could revert either to full-back or the bench.

As Sportsmail revealed last summer, despite the protestations, Jose Mourinho has been willing to examine offers for Juan Mata and Luiz.

He wants to continue rebuilding at Chelsea with a top striker and defender such as Kurt Zouma of St Etienne.

Balancing this out against the implications of Financial Fair Play means they will listen to offers around £35m for Luiz which would leave them able to sign Zouma for around £10m and leave space for Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa at £36m plus. The pursuit of Southampton’s Luke Shaw may prompt another departure though.

Arsenal close in on German star Draxler but Wenger wants to drag price down from £37m clause

Arsenal are in advanced talks with Julian Draxler's representatives and his club Schalke as they look to push through a move for the German international by the end of the week.

The 20-year-old's £37million release clause activates in the summer and Arsenal want to wrap up a deal before the end of the transfer window before interest in Draxler from other clubs mounts.

Arsenal were hoping to sign Draxler for around £30m but Schalke are holding out for £37m for their prized asset.

Draxler has emerged as Arsenal's No 1 transfer target this month as manager Arsene Wenger looks to bolster his attacking options for the title run-in.

The Frenchman’s hopes of landing the German wonderkid were been dealt a major boost last week after he made the Emirates Stadium his priority destination.

Draxler has told friends that his preferred option once he leaves the Bundesliga is Arsenal.

The fact the Gunners have a wealth of German talent in their ranks, including Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski is understood to appeal to the youngster.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wants to convert Draxler into a striker in the same way he did with Thierry Henry.

Rodgers racing to sign £20m Ukraine winger Konoplyanka as Liverpool boss looks to boost squad for Euro push

Liverpool have targeted an ambitious move for Yevhen Konoplyanka as Brendan Rodgers looks to make the star signing that will enhance his side's hopes of Champions League qualification.

After missing out on Mohamed Salah to Chelsea, Liverpool have turned their attentions to the Ukraine international, who has been building an impressive reputation at Dnipro.

Konoplyanka - who played in both Ukraine's World Cup qualifiers against England, scoring in the 1-1 draw at Wembley in September 2012 - is highly-regarded and if Liverpool were to capture the 24-year-old's signature in the next 48 hours, they could end up paying as much as £20million for a player who can operate effectively on the flanks or through the middle.

Rodgers may have been slightly frustrated to miss out on Salah but he has promised to keep working until the last minute to boost his squad before the window closes on Friday and after Tuesday's 4-0 demolition of Everton, Liverpool's manager claimed he was 'very hopeful' of getting a major deal across the line.

'Hopefully we'll do something over the next few days,' Rodgers said. 'The only thing I would mention is the headlines after the press conference yesterday with the manager being angry with the club. It's far from the truth.

'I've said from day one the owners have been brilliant we're just not always going to get the players in that we want. The people here are important and we're in it together. Hopefully we can do something before the window.'close

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Police launch probe after Suarez pelted with coins at Anfield as angry Everton fans disgracefully hurl missiles at striker

Merseyside Poice have launched an investigation after coins were thrown at Luis Suarez during Liverpool's 4-0 derby win.

Suarez produced a coin for referee Martin Atkinson's inspection but it appeared around a dozen missiles were thrown in total.

The Liverpool striker was a target for the away supporters during a typically feisty encounter between the storied rivals. Suarez displayed the coin prior to taking the corner that led up to Liverpool's opener, and while he leant down to take the flag kick, missiles from the Anfield Road end were cleared seen hurled in his general direction.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers said: 'He never mentioned nothing, no.'

Steven Gerrard nodded home the resulting corner to give the hosts the lead in the 222nd installment of the derby, with Daniel Sturridge hitting a brace before the break to make it 3-0.

And Suarez made it 23 goals for the season immediately after the break, robbing Phil Jagielka of possession on the half way line and finishing with a typically clinical finish, as Liverpool claimed a comprehensive 4-0 win.

Merseyside Police is looking into the matter.

Terry's not only the best Chelsea centre back in the Premier League era... he's the best there's been full stop

You have to hand it to John Terry because he has certainly seen off some threats in his 16 years as a professional at Chelsea.

Some, such as the France World Cup winner Marcel Desailly, William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho, were more serious than others.

Khalid Boulahrouz, Alex and Tal Ben Haim maybe not so much, but they were all brought in to the club under Terry’s watch.

Terry, in his 16th season as a professional footballer with Chelsea, remains. He is probably playing better than ever.

Little wonder, then, that he is agitating for news of another contract at Stamford Bridge. They are certainly making him sweat.

Marina Granovskaia, who is Roman Abramovich’s eyes and ears around the place, appears to have enjoyed the moment she told Terry that the club have a new policy in place.

Out of nowhere, it appears any one by the name of John Terry will only be offered one year contracts now that he is over 30 years of age.

He is panicking a bit, probably with good reason after putting himself in pole position to be Chelsea’s player of the year.

Perhaps Granovskaia, who is a member of the football club board at Chelsea, remembers the last time she was involved in negotiations with Terry back in July 2009.

More on that in a moment because the unsavoury slog through the media that summer put a few noses out of joint.

Back to where it all matters, though, and his performances on the pitch.

Football clubs will pretty much forgive anything - and there has been much to forgive in this case - so long as they perform out on the pitch.

Terry is not only the best central defender in Chelsea’s history, but he is also unrivalled in two decades of the Barclays Premier League. He is the best there has been.

It was only a couple of weeks ago when Terry’s 600th appearance in a Chelsea shirt was being commemorated before their Premier League clash with Manchester United.

‘An incredible achievement by a guy who has given everything for a club for many, many years and continues to do so,’ cooed his manager Jose Mourinho in his programme notes.

Terry, 33, has played in all 22 Premier League fixtures for Chelsea this season and he will captain the team against West Ham on Wednesday.

He has realigned his game, handing marking duties to his partner Gary Cahill and using his positioning, which has always been his best attribute, to dictate the game. He has been phenomenal.

Fulham aim to steal a march on Liverpool and Newcastle by swooping for £12m Olympiacos' prolific hitman Mitroglou

Fulham are in talks over a £12million deal for Olympiacos striker Kostas Mitroglou.

The bid comes as Adel Taarabt discusses a possible loan move to AC Milan with defender Cristiano Zaccardo moving in the opposite direction.

Fulham had a £9.5m offer for Mitroglou rejected last week but have returned with the asking price for the prolific 25-year-old, who had been watched by Liverpool and Newcastle earlier in the season.

Talks are advancing with the Greek international discussing a four year contract.

Olympiacos said: ‘There is still no definitive agreement with Fulham for Kostas Mitroglou. Discussions will continue on Wednesday but only for an agreement of more than 15 million euros (£12.36m).’

Striker Dimitar Berbatov could still leave before Friday's deadline and Rene Meulensteen is also weighing up a bid for Simon Zoller of Cologne.

Fulham remain keen on West Ham's Ravel Morrison and with that in mind are willing to let Taarabt go.

His parent club QPR do not want him back so Milan are willing to pick him up for the rest of the season with 32-year-old centre-back Zaccardo travelling to Craven Cottage. Taarabt, 24, also has English interest.

Sturridge says sorry to Rodgers after angry touchline confrontation with boss following Merseyside derby substitution

Daniel Sturridge was forced to apologise to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and the Anfield crowd after marring a match-winning performance with a show of petulance.

Liverpool’s England striker destroyed Everton with two first-half goals but spurned the chance of a hat-trick by blazing a 54th-minute penalty over the bar. When he was substituted soon after, he appeared to speak out of turn to Rodgers, who promptly brought him into line with a stern rebuke that stopped him in his tracks.

‘I want to apologise for my reaction,’ he told BT Sport. ‘It was just disappointment after missing the penalty, but I let myself down and the fans. I apologise if it caused anyone any offence.

‘I didn't react in any way (to Rodgers) when I came off, I was just disappointed in how I took the penalty. But it's not about myself. It's about the boys in the team.’

After revealing Sturridge had said sorry to his team-mates in the dressing room, Rodgers made it clear he had given his in-form frontrunner a reminder of how he expects Liverpool players to conduct themselves.

'It looked harsh'... Wenger defends Flamini's two-footed lunge and confirms Ramsey has suffered another injury setback

Arsene Wenger defended Mathieu Flamini after he was shown a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on Morgan Schneiderlin.

The Arsenal midfielder was sent off in the 80th minute of their 2-2 draw with Southampton on Tuesday night and was lucky not to cost his side the game.

The France international will now miss the next four Arsenal fixtures, including Sunday's game against Crystal Palace, and Wenger's options in midfield will be further limited following a setback in Aaron Ramsey's return.

'Aaron Ramsey is out for longer than we expected as he had a little setback yesterday in training so I couldn't bring him here," Wenger confirmed.

'It is the same muscle. He felt it a bit again so we have to be cautious this time.'

Referee Lee Mason made no hesitation when he strode over to Flamini and immediately brandished the red card.

But Wenger insisted there was no malice in the challenge and believes that not every player who goes into a challenge with two feet off the ground should be dismissed.

Swansea 2-0 Fulham: Shelvey and Chico end Swans poor run as Cottagers' struggles continue

They all count. That goes as much for Jonjo Shelvey’s ugly winner and Chico Flores’s scrappy follow up as the three points they brought Swansea City on Tuesday night.

Michael Laudrup, a purist as a player and now a manager, certainly had few objections as he looked to the skies after a win that just might, maybe, transform this strange season.

It was his first league win in nine games, a win that for now at least will draw attention away from dressing-room rows and his own future. Such is the wonderful, compact nature of this competitive division, it has also catapulted Swansea from 15th to 10th.

For that, he owes so much to the deflections that forced Rene Meulensteen to swallow a defeat that didn’t look likely in the first half. They have now lost 12 of their last 15 and sit a point off the bottom. Maybe that’s why he didn’t do a press conference after the game.

Laudrup did and was visibly relieved. He admitted confidence has been ‘low’ in the past fortnight, but added: ‘It is a huge win. First of all because it is some games since we won in the league and also because it is a direct opponent.

‘We have three games now against our direct opponents in the table. Every game is a six pointer. When you play direct opponents it is even more important.’

He continued: ‘Now we go into the next game with two consecutive wins (having beaten Birmingham in the FA Cup) and that must give the team belief going forward. There are a lot of teams on similar points so we need more wins.’

As do Fulham. Perhaps the oddest thing about the post-Martin Jol era is that Fulham have actually been playing quite well.

Their pathetic figures do little to reflect that. But here, for large periods, they did not look like a team that should be fighting relegation.

That was in part a reflection on Swansea’s lack of individuals who can fashion beauty from nothing. Nathan Dyer started on the bench after six weeks out, but how they could have used some of his imagination recently. His introduction after an hour dramatically sharpened a side in danger of falling to a team that simply cannot score away from home.

But United may have put one over Jose with Mata deal

Well, that didn’t last long. Little more than a week since it became clear Chelsea would do business with Manchester United over Juan Mata, and the first casualty of the decision is already known.

Wayne Rooney in a Chelsea shirt. Whoomp, as the song goes, there it is.

Turns out there was no cunning plan, no deal struck behind closed doors. Losing Mata was not just another stage of some wider negotiations to be continued this summer. Chelsea really did sell last season’s player of the year to one of their most significant rivals simply for the money. We will not be tuning in for the next thrilling instalment when the series returns in June.

In fact, so off-the-table was Rooney that the clubs did not even speak directly about Mata for fear of his name coming up. The deal was conducted through intermediaries because United knew Chelsea would ask about Rooney, and they knew what the answer was going to be, and they didn’t want the inevitable frostiness to derail the transfer on which they could agree.

If the Glazers have one regret about their time at Manchester United, it is caving in over Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Real Madrid. Having rejected the first bid, they became convinced that Ronaldo’s departure was inevitable and Sir Alex Ferguson told the player that if he stayed one more season and Madrid remained interested, he could go.

Privately, the Glazer brothers now wish they had not been so easily persuaded. They wonder if there were any terms that could have kept Ronaldo from Madrid’s clutches — a deal like the £300,000 being offered to Rooney.

Either way, they regret not digging in, even if it meant Ronaldo running down his contract and leaving for nothing. That would certainly have been the policy had Rooney refused this new deal point blank. Maybe United’s intransigence has even helped to make up his mind.

So what happens next? Rooney signs a very expensive contract sooner rather than later, it seems. And some will say its size smacks of desperation on United’s part, and that he has held them to ransom once again.

Yet if Rooney stays it will be another big statement, like the signing of Mata, a victory for the club and David Moyes in dark times.

Chelsea were hoping to achieve more than a mild loss of face at Old Trafford with their pursuit of Rooney. They were solving a big problem, recruiting United’s best player, dealing a savage blow to morale and damaging a rival in a way that would be irreparable in the short term. The opposite may now have happened. It is Chelsea who appear weaker, albeit £37m richer.

Nobody can guarantee that Mata’s transfer will succeed, or that United can be propelled towards next season’s Champions League after such a miserable start, but changing Rooney’s attitude is a huge step.

Before the Mata saga began it was widely suspected that his departure from Old Trafford was more when than if. Now, however extravagant the numbers, he looks ready to commit. He may have played United’s negotiators like violins, but most regard that as preferable to playing them with a supporting net

United 2-0 Cardiff: Mata gets off to a flying start! Record £37m signing makes early impact on his Old Trafford debut

It took six minutes. Six minutes for Juan Mata to demonstrate his worth to Manchester United, six minutes for him to link, albeit circuitously, with Robin van Persie and conjure a goal at Old Trafford.

This being the David Moyes edition of the champions, however, it was not until close to an hour later that they could begin to feel safe against the Premier League’s bottom club, thanks to a cracking goal by Ashley Young.

Even so, baby steps, baby steps. By the time Mata began tiring late in the game — the odd mistimed tackle here, a rare misplaced pass there, replaced by Adnan Januzaj after 85 minutes — few were in any doubt that they had seen the debut of a future United great. Mind you, they have been starved of the usual good news around here of late.

Mata was not brilliant but he was most definitely an upgrade, and better than expected, having played no football for close to a month. He needs to be in top gear by the time of the visit to Arsenal on February 12, but the pass which set up United’s first goal will earn him considerable credit in these parts.

Mata collected the ball from the defence, deeper than a conventional No 10, but immediately demonstrated a counter-attacking instinct that fits in perfectly with the ethos of his new club. A perfect crossfield pass to Patrice Evra and United were away.

Evra’s cross was headed against the bar by Luis Antonio Valencia and the ball ricocheted around the area as United scrambled to convert. Out it came and was followed up by Van Persie, whose effort was saved by David Marshall; out it came and it was followed up by Van Persie, whose header, second time, gave the goalkeeper no chance.

So it wasn’t an assist, or even the assist for an assist, but had Mata not applied his singular vision to the build-up, United would not have been able to play with a safety net for so long; and those little securities are important these days.