Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has not yet given up on landing a big fish this summer with Manchester United Wayne Rooney the clubs main target, but says that there is a back-up plan in place should the Blues be unable to sign the England international.
So far Chelsea have had two bids turned down by United, but are ready to put a third bid on the table before the close of the transfer window.
Asked about the current situation regarding transfers the Portuguese manager said:
“Nothing has changed and, at a certain point, I agree with what Alan Pardew (Newcastle boss) was saying, that the transfer window goes too far.
“It goes to the third, fourth fixture of the season, which I agree is too much.
“When you think that you’d like to have one player and the market is open, then official bids are not forbidden. Official bids are always accepted in an ethical way.”
“But, at the same time, it gives everyone a chance to be in the market, while we are winning or losing points, and we will be until the last day.”
When discussing the Rooney bid Mourinho said that United were able to decline any bids made just as Chelsea had done when Barcelona came calling for David Luiz.
“We trust a lot in our project for the future because the team is very, very young,” he said. “But we have conditions to try and improve our team by bringing in one more player and we are going to try that until the end.
“When you think that you’d like to have one player and the market is open, then official bids are not forbidden. Official bids are always accepted in an ethical way.
“You try because nobody forbids you to try and, of course, the player’s owners can do exactly what we did in relation to David Luiz and Barcelona.”
If Chelsea fail in their attempt to sign Rooney Mourinho was asked if Samuel Eto’o would be an option to which the Blues man said:
“We have a plan B and a plan C! Don’t ask me names, because it’s difficult to speak about players from other clubs.”
