The good news for Manchester United supporters is that Louis van Gaal has no intention of leaving Juan Mata marooned on the right flank.

There was plenty to pick holes in during the final months of David Moyes’s miserable reign at Old Trafford, not least the former manager’s decision to pay Chelsea a club-record £37.1 million fee for a central playmaker and then stick him on the wing.

There is no danger of a repeat of that under Van Gaal. One of the primary reasons behind the Dutchman’s move to a 3-4-1-2 formation has been to play to Mata’s strengths by ring-fencing the No 10 role. Mata scored 20 goals from that position for Chelsea in 2012-13 and is clearly relishing the prospect of a