Jose Mourinho says the door is 'open' if Juan Mata wants to discuss leaving Chelsea, but he wants winger to stay

Jose Mourinho said that the door was “open” if Juan Mata wanted to discuss leaving, though he stressed his desire for the Spain winger not to walk through it.

With the January transfer window now open, Mata’s future at Chelsea was thrust back under the spotlight after he displayed frustration at being substituted 53 minutes into the eventual 3-0 win over Southampton.

Mata pushed the chair in the dugout and then appeared to be gesticulating angrily about the situation to André Schürrle, who was also taken off just eight minutes into the second half.

Mourinho claimed that Mata’s frustration would have been caused by the difficulty of breaking down a stubborn Southampton team.

He was then asked what he would do if the 25-year-old wanted to leave.

“I want to keep him, I want to keep him, I don’t want him to go,” Mourinho said.

“That’s my opinion, my wish. But my door is open and the club’s door is open too.

"When a player wants to speak with us, we are there waiting, waiting for them. But if you ask me, ‘Do I want the club to sell him?’ I don’t.

"It will never start from us, the desire to move a player that we like. We’ve had no bids.”

Mata is of interest to Inter Milan, Paris St-Germain and Manchester United.

Having been virtually ever-present for Chelsea in the previous two years, he has featured in only 13 Premier League games this season.

He did start against Southampton but was largely anonymous before being replaced by Oscar, who was duly the inspiration behind Chelsea’s victory.

When it was put to Mourinho that Mata had slammed his seat after being substituted, the manager said: “I didn’t see. I think his frustration was because we know we have to win.

"If we don’t win this game the difference to the leaders is bigger. When he comes off the team is losing two points.

“I think his frustration is about that because at the end of the game everybody was happy in the dressing-room and everybody was celebrating the victory.”

Mourinho also stressed that he could not guarantee any player regular football.

Michael Essien has also struggled for a regular starting place and his agent has said that he could leave this month.

“I can’t promise, I can’t offer nothing,” he said. “I understand players think about the national team, about the World Cup and playing more regularly.

"But my education to players is that they have to think about the team first.

"And the players who’ve worked with me for a long time, like Michael, know that perfectly.”

Mourinho also said that the best-case prognosis for both Branislav Ivanovic and Frank Lampard was that they would return from respective knee and thigh injuries in the final week of January.