Mourinho coy on Chelsea Muto links

Jose Mourinho refused to be drawn on rumours that Chelsea have made a bid for Tokyo striker Yoshinori Muto and insists the club would never sign a player purely for commercial reasons.

Tokyo president Naoki Ogane claimed that the Premier League leaders have made an offer for the Japan international, who has already scored three goals in four J.League appearances this term.

It was put to the Portuguese boss that the signing of Muto would be beneficial financially for Chelsea, considering the club are due to visit Japan in pre-season and Japanese company Yokohama Rubber are to be their official shirt partner next term.

Manager Mourinho admitted that commercial interests are important in modern football, but stated that any player who signs on at Stamford Bridge must be of the right calibre for a team challenging for the Premier League title.

“I don’t make bids,” Mourinho said. “That’s [commercial interests] modern football, that’s modern management.

“There is something that in modern management, you can’t completely close the door to a little bit of commercial interest.

“At the same time, a football club is always a football club. And a top football club only has space for very good players or at least very good prospects.

“So no, we would never bring a player if the player has no capacity to be in the Chelsea squad.”

Asked for his thoughts on Muto, Mourinho added: “It’s not nice to speak about other players.

“The only thing I can say is that modern football is a business, an industry. You have to think about the financial situation, especially at a club like Chelsea, who always want to be under the rules of [FIFA Financial] Fair Play.

“But we are a football club. We want to win matches and trophies. We don’t get players unless we believe the player is a good one or a good prospect. That’s for sure.”