Mourinho also confirmed a player would leave Chelsea – probably on loan – if Willian completed his move.
He insisted that would not be Juan Mata. "He's a player we all like and want to keep," Mourinho said. "We want more quality, not less. He's not a player we want to lose."
Victor Moses therefore looks the most likely candidate, with Mourinho adding: "I want a 22-player squad. If someone comes, someone leaves.
"Do we have to sell? Probably not. I don't like to work with big squads, I like small squads. At the same time, we like to leave the door open for kids to come in."
That policy would also see Chelsea let one of their strikers leave if they complete the signing of Wayne Rooney, with a third bid expected after Monday's game at Manchester United.
Mourinho will have the honour of being David Moyes's first Old Trafford opponent, having repeatedly proven a thorn in Sir Alex Ferguson's side. Ferguson and Mourinho became close despite that and the latter admitted Monday's match would have a different feel.
"The difference is the routine of being friends, of being relaxed together before the match and after the match, being together again and having a laugh," he said.
"With David, we don't have this kind of relation. But we have a good relationship. We can start this kind of relationship I had with Sir Alex. It's not manager v manager it's club v club, 11 v 11."
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns, with David Luiz (hamstring) in a race to be fit in time.
No comments:
Post a Comment