Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mourinho happy with Chelsea squad

Fernando Torres

Chelsea F.C. manager Jose Mourinho has revealed he is happy with his current squad, insisting he will not sell Fernando Torres this transfer window.

The Spain international, 30, joined Chelsea for a club-record fee of £50 million in 2011 but has failed to live up to the expectation of the club’s supporters.

Mourinho has strengthened the Blues’ strikeforce after belittling last year’s trio of Demba Ba, Samuel Eto’o and Torres on several occasions, bringing in Diego Costa and Didier Drogba from Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray respectively.

The Portuguese has also brought in Cesc Fabregas and Kurt Zouma, who returns from his loan at French Ligue 1 side AS Saint-Étienne, and is content with his current rotation of players.

“We have a good squad,” Mourinho said.

“The perfect squad would be with this 18 players, not 17 or 16, but rules are rules and we are working hard, even here, for not to have these kind of problems in the future.

“[We want] to have more English players in our squad which we are going to have in the future but in this moment we are still in the middle of this process.

“So at the moment we have to make a decision about one player not to be on that list.”

When asked if Torres could be sold this summer, Mourinho added: “No. Three strikers is fundamental in a squad and we have three strikers; Fernando, Didier and Diego so one of them is not [going] for sure.”

Torres tallied five goals and five assists in 29 English Premier League appearances for Chelsea last term; however, he is — in all likelihood — the third striker, behind Diego Costa and Drogba, in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.

Cavani happy in Paris

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. striker Edinson Cavani has revealed he is happy in the French capital amid reports linking the player with a summer exit from the Parc des Princes.

The Uruguayan hitman, who joined PSG from Napoli for a fee of around  €64.5 million last summer, is priced at 7/4 to sign for Manchester United before the close of the transfer window, with Chelsea backed at 4/1.

Cavani told L’Equipe: “I am sure to stay, why would I not?

“I’m well in Paris. I have a contract to honour. I’m calm, I’d rather be here. I feel good here. However, I know it does not depend solely on the player but also on the club.

“There were some small issues about the position I wanted to play but I feel very good about that now.

“I waited for the right moment to speak. It is important for a striker to play in a position that is natural for him. Everyone knows my position and we do not need to talk about this.”

Cavani has previously made it clear he was unhappy playing on the right wing last term and would prefer plying his trade in a two-striker formation, preferably alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

With United already having Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, it seems unlikely Louis van Gaal would move to sign a big-money No. 9 in the coming weeks.

Instead, expect LVG to purse one or two defenders, namely centre-backs, and one or two central midfielders. The likes of Daley Blind, Jordy Clasie, Mats Hummels, Nigel de Jong and Thomas Vermaelen are all potential arrivals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shawn Etemadi


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