Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Premier League pair set to join Manchester United star Juan Mata by making Common Goal commitment

The Manchester United midfielder launched the charitable initiative in August, seeing one per cent of his wages donated to charity

Thursday 19 October 2017 10:56 EDT
Comments
Two Premier League players are set to be announced on Friday
Two Premier League players are set to be announced on Friday (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The first two English players to join Juan Mata's Common Goal project are set to be announced on Friday.

The Manchester United midfielder launched the charitable initiative in August, seeing one per cent of his wages donated to charity.

Turkey and Fenerbahce wide man Hasan Ali Kaldirim became the 10th member to commit to the initiative on Thursday, with two English Premier League players set to be announced on Friday.

Mata wrote on Twitter in response to the latest addition: "10th member. 6th nationality. 1st player from Turkey. Welcome Ali! £CommonGoal"

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini and Bayern Munich's Mats Hummels have already pledged one per cent of their wages, as have United States women's internationals Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan.

Common Goal is run by the Berlin-based organisation streetfootballworld, which invests in more than 120 football-based charities in 80 countries.

Speaking last month at the Soccerex convention in Manchester, Mata said a United team-mate would soon be joining the initiative.

He said then: "We're not trying to change football but hopefully help as many people as we can through football, which makes sense because football is a big force for unity and good in the world.

"Nothing else can help like football can. Hopefully we can do something big and bring a lot of players and people who are involved in football on board.

"We are having promising conversations with people who make decisions in football and we are going to try to reach every single footballer out there."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in