Former Manchester United and Chelsea star Juan Mata has created a piece of history this week as the first active player to become a club owner in Major League Soccer.
Mata will celebrate his 37th birthday in the coming months but is prolonging his career with Western Sydney Wanderers, having joined the Australian club in September following a shortlived spell in Japan with Vissel Kobe. The 2010 World Cup winner's last European club was Galatasaray in 2022/23.
But Mata's off-field ambitions have taken a big step forward after joining the ownership group at San Diego FC, the newest club in MLS due to start playing in 2025.
Only one other former international player is involved in MLS ownership, but David Beckham had ended his career several years before launching Inter Miami in 2018 the ex-England captain was given a $25m expansion team purchase option when he signed with LA Galaxy in 2007.
As a partner in San Diego, Mata joins Egyptian-British billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a Native American tribe from southern California who had been looking for opportunities to invest in sporting ventures since late 2020.
Mata is already an investor in Formula 1 team Alpine Racing and was a co-founder of the Common Goal movement, a charitable organisation where members typically players, coaches and others involved in football pledge to donate 1% of their salary to fund social change. Another venture saw him invest in a Manchester tapas and wine bar alongside his father.
This isn't even Mata's first time putting money into a football club. In 2012, during his time with Chelsea, the player bought shares in boyhood team Real Oviedo with fellow Premier League stars Santi Cazorla and Michu to help keep the club afloat.
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