Today marks the start of a campaign that will see our boys in blue defend their crown as Premier League champions. Chelsea FC manager, Jose Mourinho, spoke to reporters at his pre-match press conference prior to the squad’s first pre-season fixture with the New York Red Bulls in the International Champions Cup.
In keeping with pre-season tradition, the questions posed to the gaffer centred around training and the upcoming match, but more importantly the transfer window. According to the Chelsea FC official site, Jose said this about potential transfer targets:
“In this moment we need a left-back because I think we are selling Filipe Luis now or tomorrow. We need to go the market, we need to find a club that accepts a bid before 31 August, and we are going for a left-back. In other positions we have no space.”
RELATED: Chelsea FC Transfer Rumours: Filipe Luis Sold To Atletico Madrid
This fuels the speculation hanging over Augsburg’s Abdul Baba Rahman and a potential move to SW6. A bid for the left-back stalled reportedly due to an inability to first offload the Brazilian.
Filipe Luis never made much of an impact in the first team, and his need for minutes in top competitions will be met by a return to Atlético Madrid. Luis seemed to be happy at Chelsea, but at this point in his career it is understood why such a move would be made.
Meanwhile, club legend Didier Drogba is currently the subject of transfer speculation linking him with the MLS side, Montreal Impact, and the boss weighed in with his thoughts on that as well:
“What can I say? I can say if he doesn’t have a house yet the hotel is good to stay. I can say that I saw some nice houses when I went for a walk to the top point. The training ground is good, in very good conditions.”
Mourinho seems to support such a transfer and from a US fan’s perspective, this move will excite. His joining up with Montreal would lead to potential showdowns with former EPL greats, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, among others.
The boss also discussed the future of North American football as well as the team’s training headquarters on tour in Montreal:
“It’s a short distance to go home because after three days we have to play the Community Shield so it wouldn’t be good for us to be in LA or Seattle and travel back from there. In seven hours we are in London. It’s a new training ground, so we knew the pitch would be good. All the conditions are good for us.”
While Chelsea supporters on the west coast will not be happy with that answer, it can be respected. The club has quite a run-in ahead of their first official Premier League match at home to Swansea on August 8th, and being subjected to an unnecessarily long flight would certainly not help preparations.
However, the Special One spoke highly of the football growth he has seen in the US and Canada in recent years and is even open to a move stateside following his European silverware conquest:
“For the MLS, yes, one day. But why not now? Because I want to be in the best competitions. I want to be in the Champions League, the Premier League, I want to have the biggest challenges,” said Mourinho according to ZeeNews.
Let’s all hope that his American dream is put on hold for the next few years or so.
Chelsea take on the New York Red Bulls at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, tonight at 8pm EDT.
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