Jose
Mourinho believes the squad he has assembled at Chelsea is capable of
competing at the top for the next decade.
In his second season back at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho has spent £75million
on summer recruits – in the form of Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Filipe
Luis.
He has also returned club legend Didier Drogba to west London while moving
on a number of those deemed surplus to requirements.
Mourinho is confident he has added in the right areas and sees Chelsea
challenging for major honours for many years to come.
He said: “We have the squad that we want to have. We don’t say it’s perfect,
we don’t say it’s the best. There is no manager in the world that says his
squad is perfect and could not improve in certain positions.
“We say we like very much our squad. It is a squad for tomorrow, for next
season and also a squad with big possibilities for the next five or 10 years
with so many young people. So, I like my squad very much.”
Mourinho has also hailed his board for backing him in the transfer market
and moving quickly to land top targets.
He added: “I love the club because the club was fantastic and gave me the
three targets I was asking for, in the left back, a midfield player and a
striker. In fact, they gave me two strikers because Didier is also back.
“We have bought three people in Filipe, Diego and Fabregas, all in the best
stage for a football player, between 25 and 30. They are three experienced
players with quality to strengthen immediately our team.
“Last season we went into the season with a different profile when we bought
people like Mohamed Salah and Andre Schurrle; people that needed some time.
We also went to people like Kurt Zouma, but these players - Cesc, Costa and
Luis - are ready.
“The squad improves, for sure, and the team can show qualities on the pitch
that in the past we didn’t. The team has to be better. But obviously, this
is the Premier League and every team tries to be better, especially at the
top.”
More business at Chelsea has been mooted, but Mourinho has sought to
distance himself from reports suggesting an approach for Roma centre-half
Mehdi Benatia is imminent.
He said: “We’re not interested. We have (John) Terry, (Gary) Cahill,
(Branislav) Ivanovic and (Kurt) Zouma.
“And we want to make Andreas Christensen step-by-step part of the squad.
He’s training with us every day, playing a few minutes with us when it’s
possible, playing in the Under-21s and training with us as a first-team
squad member.”
While ruling out one incoming, Mourinho admits there may be outgoings, with
a decision set to be taken on the future of winger Victor Moses – a man who
spent the 2013/14 campaign on loan at Liverpool.
“We have one problem to resolve," said Mourinho. "We have one extra foreign
player in at the moment and Victor is not a foreign player.
“Victor’s best position is on the wings where we have many solutions. We
have (Eden) Hazard, Willian, Salah and Schurrle but he (Moses) is English
and at this moment we have one foreign player who has to leave.
“So until the end of the month, we have to make that decision and Victor is
involved in this process. Maybe he stays or maybe he leaves. Because he is
English, it is something we have to analyse as well.”
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