Juan Mata says he is happy to stay at Chelsea

LONDON (AP) Juan Mata is happy at Chelsea and has no plans to leave the club despite appearing to have fallen out of favor under new manager Jose Mourinho.

The 25-year-old Mata was Chelsea's player of the year last season, scoring 12 goals in the Premier League and setting up 15, but the Spain winger has struggled to establish himself under Mourinho.

"It's been a very, very good two seasons for me here, maybe the best of my career, and what I want this season is the same," Mata said. "I'm looking forward to achieving as many trophies as we have done in the last two seasons and hopefully this is going to be a good season for us again."

Mata has played only 65 minutes in Chelsea's opening three league matches and was an unused substitute in the Super Cup final against Bayern Munich, even after the game went to extra time.

He has also been the subject of some transfer speculation.

"I think it's normal in every transfer window that there are lots of rumors but I'm happy here," Mata said.

At the international level, Mata was a surprise omission from the Spanish national team squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Chelsea was busy in the transfer market over the offseason and the signings of Marco van Ginkel, Andre Schuerrle, Willian, Christian Atsu, as well as Kevin De Bruyne returning to the club after a spell on loan, have intensified competition in Chelsea's attacking positions.

After leaving Mata out against Manchester United last month, Mourinho denied that the Spaniard's future could be in doubt.

"Everything is clear between me and the player. We have no problems," Mourinho said. "I think he's a very important player for us. He wants to be a very important player for us. He wants to stay. I want him to stay, the club want him to stay. There is no story."