Assist king Juan Mata out to join Chelsea’s pantheon

List the workload he has taken on since last summer and Juan Mata, momentarily wide-eyed, performs a comical double take. The shift began in Ukraine in July with a goalscoring cameo appearance for Spain in the final of Euro 2012. It mercifully bypassed Chelsea’s pre-season tour to the United States to take in La Furia Roja’s strangely anaemic participation at the Olympic Games instead, before lurching into a club campaign that has seen the pursuit of eight different trophies in as many different countries.

Throw in a couple of World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies in Panama and Qatar and his tally stands at 60 games. “How many?” he asks, as if confirmation might suddenly have offered a revelatory explanation for all those aches and pains that had been mystifying him for weeks. “But am I knackered? No, no, not at all. Sure, it’s been a busy season, but I feel the desire to play more and more. I’m still fresh.”

It seemed churlish to point out he was also Chelsea’s most used outfield player last season with 58 appearances and, drifting further back, had spent the previous two summers winning Uefa’s player of the tournament at the European Under-21 Championship and, for good measure, a World Cup. It has been a while since Mata had an opportunity to catch his breath. He is the constant.

Thankfully for Chelsea and, most likely, regrettably for Sunderland on Sunday, he remains constantly outstanding. It says everything about the impression the 24-year-old has made that when he is absent, like at Southampton last Saturday, the side feel diminished. Just as remarkable as the number of games is the impact he makes: he has 18 goals, which is eye-catching enough before it registers that his beautifully clipped cross, converted by Fernando Torres against Rubin Kazan on Thursday, was his 31st assist of the term.

To offer some perspective, only six top-flight clubs — one of them being Chelsea — have scored more than the 49 goals to which Mata has contributed this season. There has been no second season syndrome, no hint it has clicked with opponents how to stamp out his threat. The Spaniard may not win the PFA’s player of the year award this season, presumably because Chelsea have not carried all before them as they had hoped, but he merits being in contention.

The comparisons with Gianfranco Zola, acknowledged as the club’s greatest player, are bold but justified. “He was so good, so talented, just magic to watch,” Mata says. “To be considered like him in any way makes me so happy.

“But Gianfranco Zola achieved a lot more than I’ve done so far in my career. What he did here, the reputation he has here, is something I’d like to try to emulate. Everything I do is about improvement. Last season went so well for me, my first at the club after changing everything: my life, my football, from the Spanish league to the Premier League. But it’s stepped up again since.

“Maybe the yoga I do helps me to play as much as I do. It certainly gets you in the right frame of mind, stretches and relaxes you. But my game is improving, too. In terms of confidence, I’m still growing, but it’s easy to do that when you’re enjoying yourself.

“It’s vital a player feels important in the team and, personally speaking, all the managers I’ve worked with here have given me that backing and confidence. They have told me to control games. I had it from Andre Villas-Boas, from Robbie Di Matteo at the beginning of this season, and I’ve felt the confidence of Rafa [Bentez]. It means everything to feel important for the side.”

His success will warm the hierarchy. Chelsea boast a lavishly funded and slickly run scouting operation, and were familiar with Mata’s progress at Valencia long before they beat Arsenal and Liverpool to secure his services for £23.5m (Dh131.3m) in the summer of 2011.

Carlo Ancelotti had been made aware of the Spaniard’s potential recruitment prior to his dismissal as manager that May, but the new man, Villas-Boas, preferred to target Oriol Romeu and Raul Meireles as priority additions. It was Roman Abramovich who pushed to pursue Mata as a third, bonus buy. The perception may be that players are often purchased on the owner’s whim, but it is the exception.

Regardless, it was inspired. Mata is clearly no flat track bully, either. He has scored against Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United this season, adding assists against all three as well as against Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool. He is arguably far more integral to the team than either of the veterans, John Terry or Frank Lampard. “I don’t know about that,” he says. “I wish I was Frank Lampard right now. He’s a legend at this club. But I just try to do my best. I don’t know if my game can influence the game of the team and how we play, but I just try to help with my football, for my team-mates and the club.”

The optimist in Mata has not been perturbed by the merry-go-round in the dugout. Rather, he has used the time he has spent with each of his managers, whether interim or permanent, to learn and improve.

“I consider myself lucky to have worked with each of them. Andre, Robbie and Rafa are all good people even before you consider they are great coaches. I’ve picked up different things from them all. Andre helped me settle. He gave me confidence as well, put me in the first XI, made me believe I belonged. He showed me age is not an issue: he had experience of success at 33 or 34, and he helped me settle into English football.

“Robbie communicated on a personal level, talking to me all the time and impressing on me how important I was for him and his system of play. He changed my position, put me in the middle so I became more like a second striker. That’s a big step forward.

“With Rafa, I’m playing more like a striker still, which has given me the chance to add more goals and assists. He’s always telling me to push forward, forward, forward. None of us knows what will happen next, who will take over in the summer, but this is not the time to worry about that. We have too many games, and two trophies still to focus on. What we have to be is 100 per cent committed to the club and to Rafa. He is doing his best for Chelsea.”