Paul Scholes: 'Manchester United fortunate to sign Juan Mata'

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has claimed that the club are lucky to have been able to bring a player of Juan Mata's quality to Old Trafford.

Mata was not seen as part of Jose Mourinho's plans at Chelsea and United took advantage to complete a £37m transfer for the Spaniard, a move which has been well received by Scholes.

"For the last couple of years Mata has probably been the best player in the league," Scholes told MUTV.

"We had to pay a lot of money for him and we were very lucky that he wasn't in Chelsea's plans, and only we can benefit from him now.

"Hopefully he can have a strong end to the season and he can help us climb the table."

Mata is expected to be named in the team to face Arsenal on Wednesday evening.