‘Blues will be Bak stronger’
JOSE MOURINHO has laughed off Antonio Conte’s claim that Chelsea are weaker following their controversial sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United.
And despite all the pre-season problems at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho indulged in some early mind games by saying he still rates his former club as favourites to retain the Premier League title.
Conte is unhappy with Chelsea’s decision to allow Serbia midfielder Matic to join one of their title rivals even though they bought a ready-made replacement in Monaco’s Timoue Bakayoko, and hope to add Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater before the transfer window closes.
Mourinho said: “When people say, for example, Chelsea lost an important midfield player, if you lose one but you buy Bakayoko and Drinkwater, what’s the problem?
“The problem is when you sell and you don’t buy. When you sell and keep buying you are probably even stronger.”
Mourinho also refuses to accept the wantaway transfer dramas involving Diego Costa at Chelsea, Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal and Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool will have an impact on the title race.
He said: “Does it give us an advantage? No. If they have problems now, the problems are going to finish in a couple of weeks because the market is closed. They all have very good teams, very good players and I don’t see any reason for them not to be fighting for the title.”
United and neighbours City have been installed as favourites but Mourinho rejected the idea, saying: “We’re not favourites, we’re not the dream team, we’re just a team with more confidence than last season, with more time of work together, but I’m calm. For Always.”the me the favourite champion. is Clement, Swansea whose boss Paulside face United today, begs to differ. He said: “United will be contenders. Their signings of Romelu Lukaku and Matic were powerful and they look so strong, in midfield and up front. They are strong on the counter and disciplined at the back.” Clement is set to give £11million summer signing Roque Mesa his competitiveLeon Britton debutis strugglingbut captainwith a back injury. “United have started well and brought in some good players, but we are confident because of what we did last season and our record against them is quite encouraging,” said Clement. “We are looking forward to it and expect a really good atmosphere. The players feel good at the Liberty. The big advantage of being at home is you have the crowd behind you.”