Former Everton defender Yerry Mina has explained his decision to join the club over Manchester United in 2018
Colombia's defender #13 Yerry Mina controls the ball before the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers football match between Argentina and Colombia at the Mas Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, on June 10, 2025. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP) (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images)
Yerry Mina controls the ball before the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers match between Argentina and Colombia at the Mas Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, on June 10, 2025
(Image: Photo by LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images )
Yerry Mina has explained his reasoning for rejecting Manchester United to join Everton. The Colombia defender made the move to Merseyside from Barcelona in 2018.
The centre-back joined for a fee of around £25million and while he was impressive when he played, his Goodison Park career was largely ruined by persistent injury issues.
Mina did play a crucial role in team staying up in the Premier League in 2022-23, which was his last season at the club before he departed on a free transfer to Fiorentina. Sean Dyche drafted him back into the XI at the end of the campaign and he was vital to the small uplift in form that kept the Toffees afloat.
As a result, Mina left with largely well wishes.
And speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Sport Witness) the Cagliari defender has explained his choice to move to Merseyside ahead of Manchester.
"I wanted to leave Barcelona even though the fans loved me," he said.
"But I wanted to play. [Jose] Mourinho, who was at Manchester United, called me. He told me: 'If you're well, you'll play'.
"But I had to recover. Marco Silva convinced me to go to Everton. They were five great years,
"I had [Carlo] Ancelotti, a great coach. We started well, then five of us got injured. But the Premier League is beautiful."
Mina was one of three players to make the switch from Barcelona to the Blues that summer, with Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes taking the same path.
The Colombian had only been at the Camp Nou for six months before he made the switch to Everton, making just six appearances in all competitions.
At Everton, he played 99 games in total and frequently chipped in with goals from defence, with nine scored across his Blues career.
Mina continued to struggle for minutes at Fiorentina, where he made just seven appearances in all competitions.
He managed to get his career back on track at Cagliari, though, and has been a regular at the heart of their defence since joining in February 2024.