
Jose
Mourinho is confident Chelsea can defend their Premier League title without
significant additions in the transfer market.
The Blues have been relatively quiet in the market so far this summer with
Radamel Falcao joining on loan to replace free agent Didier Drogba and Asmir
Begovic signed following the departure of Petr Cech.
The reigning Premier League champions had a £20m bid rejected for Everton
centre-half John Stones last week.
Mourinho confirmed to Sky Sports News HQ he is in the market for a defender
but otherwise appears content to enter the current campaign without making a
splash in the market.
"In this moment we don't want players," Mourinho said. "Of course we must be
ready because the market is open and if someone comes for one of our players
with a bid, we must be ready to act."
Mourinho did confirm the club was likely to seek a replacement for left back
Filipe Luis after the club agreed to a deal to send him back to Atletico
Madrid.
"We need a left-back because I think we will sell Filipe Luis, so we need to
go to the market. But other positions we have no space."
While the likes of Manchester United have bolstered their squad with an
array of high-calibre signings including Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan
Schneiderlin, Mourinho insists he is happy with what he has.
Asked if he was targeting the Champions League this season, he replied:
"It's not my main objective. I have only one objective – to win tomorrow.
"I have no other objectives other than to improve, improve and improve. It's
a nice challenge to improve with no new players.
"I think the players we have are happy because the club trusts them. We are
saying: 'You are the champions, we trust you, we believe in you.'"
Mourinho accepted Chelsea’s title rivals are likely to provide a sterner
challenge this season but insisted the onus is on the club’s coaching staff
to ensure the team continues to progress without significant additions.
"We have exactly the same players, the squad and the team is basically the
same," Mourinho said.
"We are just going to try and add some things we are competing against teams
who are going to be better because of the money they've spent. A team that
buys one, two, three or four players and spends 10, 20, 30, 40, 50m is going
to improve.
"So we have to improve what we have already. We are trying to give them some
new qualities, try to be a little bit more unpredictable and go through the
season with high motivation."