Mourinho calm over Rooney as Lukaku shines

CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho said he was “calm” over his high-stakes bid for Wayne Rooney after emerging star Romelu Lukaku burnished his growing reputation with another two goals in Jakarta.

Mourinho indicated there had been no new offer for Rooney after Manchester United rejected an initial bid. But he also said Chelsea were sticking by their decision not to target any other players.

“No,” said Mourinho, after Chelsea’s 8- 1 hammering of Indonesia All-Stars on Thursday, when asked if there had been movement on the transfer situation. “In this moment we have what you know... that bid was public and official, and after nothing else and we are calm, as we told you. We are calm because we are happy with what we have.”

The Portuguese manager has much riding on the Rooney bid, with Chelsea looking at no other players after the signings of German forward Andre Schurrle, 22, Dutch midfielder Marco van Ginkel, 20, and 40year- old Australian keeper Mark Schwarzer.

But he has

also been boosted by the return from loan spells of 22-year-old Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne and powerhouse striker Lukaku, who has bagged four goals on Chelsea’s three-game Asian tour.

Lukaku, who struck the winner from the spot in Bangkok, and was also on target in Kuala Lumpur, added a close-range header and sidefooted finish on Thursday to press his claims for regular first team football next season.

Mourinho said erratic £50 million striker Fernando Torres should be pleased to have competition for a starting spot from Lukaku, even without Rooney in the squad.

“I think Fernando should be happy because we have competition on the team and I think it’s good for everybody in every position,” he said.

“So Fernando, I think he will be pleased because for some time at Chelsea he was basically the young striker, after that it was Demba Ba, arriving in January ... and now we have three strikers.”

Meanwhile, a stoppage time goal from new face Wilfried Zaha saved Manchester United from the brink of a humiliating third defeat in their preseason Asian tour yesterday, drawing 2-2 with Cerezo Osaka at Shinji Kagawa’s former J-League home.

Kagawa, who moved to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund a year ago, also delighted a sell-out crowd of 44 856 at the Nagai Stadium by scoring United’s first goal minutes after fluffing a penalty.

United now have two wins and two defeats in Asia after losing to the Thai League All Stars 1- 0 two weeks ago in Bangkok, overwhelming the A-League All Stars 5-1 in Sydney and again bowing 3-2 to the J-League’s Yokohama Marinos last Tuesday. – Sapa-AFP

GETTY IMAGES NO WORRIES: Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho says he is happy with his current squad.