Jose Mourinho is keeping a poker face with regards arrivals during the winter window. He seems reluctant to let on whether he will buy in January and told reporters last week:
“A striker, 100%, no,” he said.
“It is not a priority, it is not an option. We have three. The market is open, but for us almost closed.”
Around the same time we heard reports from The Telegraph, among others, that Chelsea had made a huge bid for Naploi hotshot Gonzalo Higuain. The Telegraph said:
Chelsea plan second bid for Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuaín after having £50 million offer rejected
So we think it’s safe to say that, if Chelsea are in the process of doing business this winter, they don’t want us to know about it until the deal is sealed.
We are left then to decant the rumours. Today there are lots of them in relation to Chelsea signing their old player Nemanja Matic. The Daily Mail says that Chelsea have bid £25m for the defensive midfielder who Mourinho sees as an ideal successor to his veteran enforcers, Micheal Essien and John Obi Mikel.
Chelsea have made a £25m move to bring Benfica’s Nemanja Matic back to Stamford Bridge.
The midfielder first joined Chelsea in 2009 but made just two appearances before leaving for Portugal in 2011 as part of the deal that saw David Luiz arrive at Stamford Bridge.
However, manager Jose Mourinho now sees Matic as the man to install in a defensive midfield role.
While many Chelsea fans would rather see the club prioritise the signing of a new striker during January Jose Mourinho clearly feels he is in his job for the long haul and that, sooner or later, a defensive midfielder will be required as a cornerstone for his next great team.
The 26 year old has only played 9 times for his country, Serbia, but is seen as a player who has matured late into one of the best players in Europe in his position.
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