Since making the decision to move to the Premier League in 2011, Juan Mata has turned into one of the most respected players in the Spanish team due to his high levels of performance and professionalism.
He joined Chelsea in 2011 before signing for Manchester United 3 years later. It is highly likely that Mata will be a key man in the Champions League tie between United and Barça on Wednesday.
It will be a particularly special tie for Mata, who is searching for his second Champions League after winning with Chelsea in 2011/12, playing against not just a Spanish side but also the side that he nearly joined all those years ago now.
Pep Guardiola courted Mata during the 2009/10 season and wanted to sign him when he was still manager of Barcelona. He wanted to bring in more young Spanish talent and Mata was certainly what he was looking for.
The Valencia midfielder was considered one of the stars of the future and the Catalan club were hopeful of signing him, even contacting his agent to ask about his situation.
A deal was very nearly completed for the following season, but in the end there was no agreement between the two sides, with Guardiola rumoured to have decided against signing the Spaniard.
"Mata is a brilliant footballer. In his day Txiki and I valued his incorporation to Barcelona, but eventually we saw that in spite of his quality, his signing wouldn't work as he was another playmaker and we already had Iniesta". Guardiola said to 'AS'
Mata himself has admitted that he was aware of what was going on, knowing that he could have been a Barcelona player, "Someone came to my party from Barça and I think that they came to talk, but there was no contact with me." Mata said.
Now 9 years later, and with renewed interest from the Catalan club, this is an incredible opportunity to demonstrate all of his quality.