The eyebrows arch, the eyes widen and the laughter ignites again from Yerry Mina as soon as he hears the names José Mourinho and Manchester United. He has been expecting this question and waiting months to give an answer. Ultimately, the Colombia international maintains, it was not the money Everton invested that swayed him away from Old Trafford but the time. After the isolation of Barcelona, it was important to feel wanted again. Enter Marco Silva.
“Good,” says Mina upon mention of United, and before waiting for an interpreter to translate the full question into Spanish. He has been asked whether a lack of interest from Mourinho discouraged a move to Manchester after an eventful World Cup or, as United briefed at the height of their manager’s dissatisfaction with the club’s summer transfer business, Everton’s willingness to pay excessive agents’ fees? Marcel Brands, director of football at Everton, has rejected the latter theory, insisting a fee of €30.25m (£26.4m) plus €1.5m (£1.3m) add-ons was agreed at the start of negotiations with Barcelona only for the La Liga champions to hold out for six weeks for a better offer from United that never materialized.
Mina’s explanation is simple. “The truth is Marco spoke to me every day, telling me to come to England,” he says. “I have always been aware of English football while growing up in Colombia – Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton, Tottenham. But Everton, honestly, has always been an important club for me. I watched them when back in the day when [Marouane] Fellaini was playing here, I remember Aaron Lennon too but, as I said, the big thing was when I was on holiday, training and keeping fit after the World Cup, Marco was on the phone, talking to me, saying to me: ‘Come on, come and play here with us.’ The faith he showed in me was very important. I know now, sitting here, that I have made the right decision. It was the best decision I could have made. I was always focused on Everton. Any talk with Manchester United was just with my agent.”
Hang on, Aaron Lennon? “Yes,” replies Mina, winking at the Everton press officer to his right. A possible stitch-up. What is not in doubt is the towering defender’s connection with Jordan Pickford, the Everton goalkeeper he beat with a textbook header in the 93rd minute of England’s feisty encounter with Colombia at the World Cup. Mina’s equaliser sent the last-16 tie to extra time and penalties, where Pickford would emerge the hero. Or the nemesis from the Colombian perspective. The header was the first thing Mina mentioned when the two became teammates.
“You’re absolutely right, I reminded him,” the charismatic center-half admits. “But I said to him: ‘Jordan, don’t worry – we are together now.’ All the lads have been great but I have to say Jordan has been particularly good. He has accepted me really well, given me a great reception and really helped me out since I have got here. He is a good lad.”
The consolation for Mina was a third goal in three consecutive World Cup matches plus a commanding display against Harry Kane that helped increase his appeal to Premier League suitors. “Thank you very much,” he says, when his performance against Kane is described as such. “Kane is a great player with great technical ability; it was a great fight. It was such an important game for both teams. It was us or them. There is a saying we have in Colombia: nobody takes my mum’s food away from me. It means we fight to the death and defend everything we can. You try and get it off me! You defend the shirt to the end. I’m looking forward to the chance to play against him again.”
Mina – and Everton – have had to be patient for his introduction into the Premier League. The defender signed with a hairline fracture in his right foot, an injury suffered at a pre-World Cup training camp and aggravated during the tournament. Once recovered, he suffered another injury when fellow summer signing Bernard landed on his left foot in training. Finally he is in line for a full debut at Chelsea on Sunday with Kurt Zouma ineligible to face his parent club. If the opening three months of his Everton career have brought frustration then Mina disguises it well. His background provides an explanation for his upbeat disposition.
Mina says: “The place where I was born, Guachené, is tough and a hard place to get out of. I remember saying to my mum when I was young: ‘One day, I will get us out of here. I will make it and it will be big.’ My family is everything. There is me, mum, dad, my younger brother [Juan José] and I have a half brother [Cristion] from another relationship my dad had. We try and remain together as much as we can. It is slightly complicated as my brother is playing for a youth team in Colombia so either my mum or dad have to be with him. One of them stays with him, the other comes to see me.
“If I told you everything about my childhood we would be here all day. But you draw on those experiences, it makes you tough. There is not a day goes by when I don’t look back and remember what it was like to get out of the environment. It makes me all the more determined to succeed. But it is not just about succeeding. I want to help inspire people not just in my town but in Colombia as a whole. I want to set an example. I have got a foundation which is designed to help young kids stay out of trouble. It gives them sporting options to stay away from temptation. I dedicate my time to that too, so they choose the right path rather than the wrong path.”
The determination to succeed made Mina the first Colombian to sign for Barcelona when he moved from Palmeiras for €11.8m in January. But only six appearances followed and seven months later he was gone for a healthy profit. There is no trace of resentment at being overlooked and occasionally frozen out completely by Ernesto Valverde.
“I am calm, I am tranquil, because I am a big believer in not looking back,” Mina insists. “I tried my best in Barcelona, I trained really, really hard, but I would train with the squad and then find out I was not in the travelling group. I spent that time training alone so I was ready for when the manager called on me. It wasn’t to be. When the summer came the World Cup was like payback for me. It was my chance to show what I can do. More than anything, it was a chance to do what I love doing: playing football. Now it is all about what I can achieve with this great club.”
(The Guardian)
