THIS IS THE JUAN

EX-UNITED STAR'S FOOTBALL ART PROJECT OPENS AT MIF

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

WHEN I was given a phone number to call former United star Juan Mata in his native Spain, I confess many years of jaundiced experience rather got the better of me and I imagined an annoying PR would answer the phone, tell me what I could and couldn't ask and, once the interview had started, keep interrupting to make sure I was on message.

Please forgive me, Juan, I should have known better.

For starters, he answered the call himself and during our chat he was charming, intelligent and open, talking about his continuing love affair with this city a year after he left United and his latest project: a new collaboration combining his passions for football and art which launches today. And, more importantly, there was no PR in sight.

You see, Mata isn't your typical millionaire footballer. There have been no lurid headlines about his private life. He doesn't have a clothing line. He wasn't a regular in the celeb haunts of Manchester and Cheshire during his eight seasons at Old Trafford. You were more likely to find him at The Whitworth art gallery checking out the latest exhibition. More on that later.

Anyway, to my great surprise Juan Mata picks up the phone, his unmistakeable Spanish tones crackle into life, and we talk about his latest venture. He is collaborating on a two-year arts project, the first instalment of which is unveiled today at the start of Manchester International Festival (MIF).

The seeds of the collaboration were first sown when Juan met Berlin-based artist Hans Ulrich Obrist at the aforementioned Whitworth in Manchester, which it turns out is one of Mata's favourite places.