Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says Juan Mata to have physical for Man United ahead of move

Juan Mata was on the brink of becoming the most expensive player in Manchester United's history after Chelsea accepted the Spanish midfielder's request to leave Stamford Bridge.

Mata was to a undergo a medical examination with United ahead of a club-record 37 million pound ($61 million) move to the Premier League champions, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Friday.

"I asked him, 'Are you really happy to go?'" Mourinho said. "He said, 'Yes, I'm really happy to go.'

"We hope he does well," Mourinho added. "We are convinced he is going to do well. If Man United pays their record for a player, it's because they know exactly what they want from him. And they know exactly what he can give them."

The 25-year-old Mata was Chelsea's player of the year for the last two seasons but has been marginalized this season following the return of Mourinho, who preferred Eden Hazard, Willian and Oscar as playmakers.

"If he cannot be fully happy here because he is not playing 100 percent like he was the last two years, if he has a big club that wants him - even if it's a rival club and in England - the club decided, and I was on the club's side for this feeling, that you cannot stop people to be happy," Mourinho said.

The deal would eclipse the 30.7 million pounds (then $55 million) United paid to sign striker Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham in 2008.

Mourinho laughed off criticism by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who said Thursday that Chelsea had timed the sale of Mata specifically to hurt its Premier League rivals.

United already has played Chelsea twice but has games left against Manchester City and the Gunners.

"Wenger complaining is normal, because he always does. It's something that we know," Mourinho said. "We don't do the market. We don't do the rules."