Mata drops in to Royton Hall to celebrate World Book Day

Juan Mata celebrated World Book Day at Royton Primary school

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Manchester United star Juan Mata recently took part in activities to celebrate World Book Day as he donated Spanish books to a primary school in Oldham.

Pupils at Royton Hall Primary School, a feeder primary of Manchester United Foundation partner school The Oldham Academy North, were delighted as the Reds midfielder surprised the class for their weekly Spanish lesson.

Mata then played teacher as he quizzed the youngsters on their language skills before handing out personally donated books in which students can read both in English and Spanish to develop their skills.

The school is just one of many across the globe that have been celebrating World Book Day, an annual event to help encourage and inspire children to explore reading.

Mata, a keen reader himself, explained the importance of such initiatives:

He said: “I think it’s fantastic to read, it gives you a different perspective of different things, it doesn’t matter what you read as long as you relax with a book or with a magazine.

"With their Spanish books, the kids can now practice their Spanish, which will help them.

"I think that’s very important for children to try and speak more languages than their native one.”