EPL Transfer News: Arsenal and Tottenham Miss out on Juan Mata?

Arsenal and Tottenham have been following Juan Mata closely this transfer window.

The Valencia winger has impressed both club and country, but was believed to be the third star to depart from Valencia. However, any chance of another club securing the Mata for a fee of €25 million has faded away now that his buyout clause has expired.

According to Goal.com, Mata had been in talks with Tottenham about a possible move prior to the upcoming season. The youngster reportedly rejected the move due to the fact that Tottenham would not be featured in the Champions League.

A move to the Premier League however, may not be out of the question as Arsenal has also expressed interest in Mata.

A disappointing preseason may encourage Arsenal to spend up during the last few days of the window to add Mata to the squad. Unfortunately for Arsenal, their bid was also rejected by Valencia.

In an interview Mata's father said "Valencia simply rejected their offer. After some hesitation they answered ‘no’ to the Gunners’ offer. " He went on to say that, "So my son remains a Valencia player, for now. But I don’t think it’s their last offer."

€25 million is certainly much too low now to secure the service of the Spanish star since interest from the top European clubs around Europe is set to spike his price. Without the €25 million "limit" who knows how high Mata's price-tag could rise?

Inter Milan are also in the mix and may make a surprise move for Mata. As his father when asked about Inter, "Are Inter Milan one of the interested teams? I know my son holds Milan in high esteem. We’ll see if Inter will come forward directly."

Mata scored 9 goals and grabbed 15 assists last season.