Juan MATA – Manchester Utd/Spain/28/04/1988
Midfielder who has struggled to find a central role under Louis Van Gaal but remains a talented playmaker.
Nemanja MATIC – Chelsea/Serbuia/01/08/1988
By early 2015, a year after he returned to Chelsea, Matic was being hailed as the club’s player of the season, a brilliant midfield enforcer and a leading contender for the end-of-season Footballer of the Year award.
Joel MATIP – Schalke/Cameroon/08/08/1991
Defensive midfielder or centre-back. Born in Germany but has played for Cameroon at the last two World Cup finals.
Blaise MATUIDI – PSG/France/09/08/1987
One of the most consistent midfielders in French football, for both club and country. Joined PSG from Saint-Etienne.
Chancel MBEMBA – Anderlecht/Congo/08/08/1994
Impressed at the African Nations Cup. Confusion surrounds his date of birth, which is officially listed as August 1994.
Alexander MEIER – Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany/17/01/1983
Veteran forward who is enjoying his 11th and best season for Eintracht, leading the Bundesliga scoring charts.
Edison MENDEZ – El Nacional/Ecuador/16/03/1979
The only man to take part in all three of Ecuador’s World Cup campaigns, a versatile midfielder with a rocket shot now winding down his career back home.
Jeremy MENEZ – Milan/France/07/05/1987
Attacking midfielder who is thriving back in Serie A after three seasons with PSG, during which he drifted out of the national side.
Bernard MENSAH – Guimaraes/Ghana/17/10/1994
Ghanaian goalscoring midfielder with a big future. An important figure in the rise of Vitoria in Portugal this season.
Dries MERTENS – Napoli/Belgium/06/05/1987
Fast, clever winger who creates and scores. Rejected by Anderlecht for being too small, he starred in Holland with PSV and has continued to impress in Italy.
