Chelsea have accepted a £37million bid for Juan Mata and immediately released the Spanish international to join Manchester United to complete the most dramatic deal of the transfer window.

Mata will undergo a medical on Thursday at United before completing the move that will see him more than double his £70,000-a-week Chelsea salary at Old Trafford.

Chelsea have been braced for a bid since Monday for Mata and finally received the offer triggering their acceptance and the release of the player.

The Premier League club are not expecting the 25-year-old to return to them and have already made plans for his replacements. A medical has been booked in for Thursday for Mata and personal terms accepted.

United chose a slightly unusual route to lodge their bid, using intermediaries, but Chelsea have accepted the offer as an official one and manager Jose Mourinho has sanctioned the move.

what if mata isn't going to man utd???

@AlexBatak I love Mourinho and I know hes the best manager we've ever had, You just dont know how pissed I am over this situation.

in the short run, it might be smart to let mata go to united, as he can improve the team and get points off city and arsenal. but its a stupid decision in the long run, because next season united can build a squad around him and be deadly. so much for a tactical move jose

Apparently, rooney is close to signing a new deal with manchester united. I would LOVE it if it happens, so all the mouthy chelsea fans can learn their place.

^With our without Rooney we are fine, there are a lot of strikers who would love to join us and our strikers seems to be in-form now. as for the "Mouthy part" I think Arsenal fans have a lot of it and I can't wait till they drop points and go back to the place where they belong. I mean this kind of attitude from the fans is the reason why ppl start to hate clubs.

yeah that's why chelsea is the most hated club in the PL. I mean there are tons of reasons, but chelsea fans play a part

You all seem to forget that United has a huge defensive problems . Signing one player won't solve all their problems . There are still signings to be made in midfield and defense . Mata is great signing , but did you wonder where Rooney will play ? or United plans to sell Persie ? Also What about Kagawa ? What about style Mata offers ? I still stick to it . Rooney will be out in summer . And if he does not come , it is all right , we will get another striker . Like Alex said our strikers in form and we are fine . We are the most hated because we broke the monopoly that was created by United and Arsenal. How else can a club this days succeed without getting financial injection from third party source . In fact if it was not for Chelsea and City , I bet United would have been on a 8th EPL title run in a row . Either way Arsenal fans , I understand your frustration that is so evident , but football is business , nothing personal .

So many butthurt Chelsea fans...

Arsenal are the greatest.

I heard its a club record deal...

@Gustavo wtf is that lol

Tv show called Seinfeld.

It's official now on the United website. Great addition, however I really hope he is worth every penny spent on him.

This is just act one of scene one. More to come guys. Welcome to United Mata.

“Manchester United is pleased to announce it has reached agreement with Chelsea Football Club for the transfer of Juan Mata for a club-record fee,” said United in a statement. “The deal is subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms. “A further announcement will be made in due course.”

Mata will make his debut in Tuesday’s Barclays Premier League encounter with Cardiff at Old Trafford.

The helicopter has arrived at Carrington