JOSE IS ROMAN’ S EMPEROR
Mata may be owner’s favourite but Russian still backs his manager
JOSE MOURINHO said it was Tuesday morning, two days after watching his team thump Manchester United and effectively end their title defence, that he first received indication that Juan Mata might be leaving.
Mourinho spent more than an hour yesterday patiently explaining the reasons why a £37million bid from United had been accepted for Mata, darling of the Stamford Bridge fans.
There were several strands: there was what he called the human factor, that Mata did not specifically ask to go but a player of his quality cannot be expected to sit happily on the bench, only to be summoned for games like tomorrow’s FA Cup tie against Stoke. ‘This club care about people,’ he said.
There was the enormous fee, a record paid by Manchester United. ‘Chelsea sold a player for almost double and t hat’s f antastic,’ stressed Mourinho. They would have listened to similar offers from any club, he said, but knew United appealed to Mata.
The Chelsea manager was not, he insisted, afraid the sale might haunt him. ‘No fears at all,’ he said. ‘We are convinced he is going to do well. We wish that. Nobody here is jumping because Juan is leaving.’
Mourinho (below) saluted the attitude of the Spain schemer, who has started only half of Chelsea’s games in the Barclays Premier League in a World Cup season yet conducted himself superbly.
Underlying it all, however, was the feeling that January has turned into a big month in the evolution of Mourinho’s new side.
Out have gone Mata and Kevin de Bruyne, with Michael Essien to follow and Ry a n Bertrand sent on loan. In have come Nemanja Matic, a strong and athletic central midfielder, and Mohamed Salah, a quick and industrious counterattacking winger. Both fit snugly into an archetypal Mourinho team.
Chelsea have no issue with the controversy surrounding Salah’s refusal to shake hands with Isreali team Maccabi Tel Aviv in a Champions League qualifier last year.
‘People have the right to be who they are,’ said Mourinho. ‘We are ready to help him.’
The Chelsea manager, fired by Roman Abramovich in September 2007 after months of bickering about player recruitment, seems to have found, for the time being at least, a happy understanding with the owner.
LIKE the fans, Abramovich also adores Mata, perhaps the individual who symbolises the efforts to impose a more artistic and creative brand of football on Chelsea. By selling to United, he has not only backed Mourinho’s short-term judgment but also his ability to construct a better team than David Moyes over time.
‘He’s the boss,’ said Mourinho. ‘I belong to the board. I come behind. I give opinions and I justify my opinions. We all participate. We all have an opinion. Everybody knows where they’re experts and where they’re not. I am only an expert in football… and only when I win.
‘We analyse everything in every perspective. From an economic point of view, it was a fantastic offer. From a scouting point of view, we could immediately identify two or three who could replace him — not direct replacement because Juan is Juan, a champion. ‘Purely as a football decision, I prefer to keep Juan because he can help us achieve important objectives. But we shared our opinions and I’m comfortable with that. We can
not sell for £50m and buy for £48m. We have to sell for £20m and buy for £5m.
‘This is the kind of situation discussed by a group with different philosophies but a common interest: what is the best for Chelsea?’
Matic and Salah are not eligible for the Champions League but Mourinho claimed the evolution of his team was too important to risk signing a player less suitable in the long run but eligible for Europe.
‘We are prioritising the evolution of the team, the future of the team,’ he said.
‘The most important thing is we build the right squad, choose the right player, try to complete the puzzle i n the next summer or two transfer windows. We don’t want to complete the puzzle in five windows, in December 2018.’
Key to the evolution is the recruitment of more English players to fulfil the home-grown quotas in the Premier League and UEFA squad lists, especially at a time when John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole will soon be out of contract.
Asked if the Mata transfer might help him sign Wayne Rooney, Mourinho replied: ‘I don’t think so.’
But he has young English players Luke Shaw and Ross Barkley in his sights, too.
In this new era of give and take, the Chelsea manager has accepted the club policy that Terry, Lampard and Cole will, like all over 30s, be offered one-year contract extensions. It means they risk losing the trio to more attractive offers.
But Mourinho said: ‘The rule is the rule and it is no problem if you live in a climate of trust. If you don’t, you can leave the player wondering, “Is this my last year?” or the club asking, “Is the player running to another club?”’
Mourinho said he wanted to keep Terry and added: ‘I trust him and I think he trusts me. I know where we want to arrive. Until January 31, we have lots to think about and to do. After that, in a calm way, we are going to analyse. The players know what we feel.’