Why the surprise that Shrewsbury would want Mata back? They have gone down to League Two and will have seen Mata do reasonably well in a team bossing the A-League. And if they want him back there isn't a thing that Corica could do to keep him
Because he was basically an abject failure in his first stint at Shrewsbury.
22 games, and 1 goal. Sent him back to Sligo, before Auckland picked him up
Admittedly it sounds like ST sometimes played him wide, rather than as the central striker.
And where would Mata want to play himself? In the ALM where he has done okay, or to club down in L2 where his first experience was poor. With Auckland he's in Bazeley's close orbit every week.
Mata knows Waine is just hanging in there at the moment as far as the AWs go. He ain't far off a recall. Injuries lately have hurt his AWs hopes.
https://us.soccerway.com/players/max--mata-/429717/