Mourinho aims a Bony barb at title rivals Man City

JOSE MOURINHO has taken a dig at Manchester City after their £25million signing of Wilfried Bony.

The Premier League champions wrapped up a four-andhalf year deal worth £100 000-aweek for the Ivorian striker on Wednesday but Mourinho has questioned whether City have remained within Financial Fair Play rules.

He said: “Good striker. If they have the money and no problems with FFP, well done. Rules are different for City.”

City’s signing of Bony means they now boast four of the Premier League’s top five goalscorers of 2014 – Bony, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.

“They can only play with 11 though. If Bony plays and Dzeko is on the bench then I am happy with that. But to have Aguero, Jovetic, Bony and Dzeko is magnificent.”

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are two points behind Chelsea in the title race, but Mourinho believes his side are not favourites.

He said: “We are not favourites for the title, we are candidates. I would say the same if we were two points behind.”

Chelsea travel to Swansea today but Mourinho is still expecting a difficult test from Gary Monk’s side despite the loss of Bony.

He said: “Swansea have a very good team and very good teams don’t depend on one player. Losing Bony doesn’t make them less difficult.”

Mourinho also refused to deny whether he called referee Phil Dowd fat after Chelsea’s 5-3 defeat to Tottenham earlier in the month.

Mourinho was alleged to have said: “You’re too fat to referee, you should retire.” Mourinho is also said to have shouted. “You’ve cost us.”

But when asked about the incident yesterday, he said: “He made a big mistake. But when I got to his room, I go in a privileged position having watched it on TV.”

Mourinho faced the media for the first time after missing last week’s press conference before a win against Newcastle United. He had refused to face reporters after being charged with misconduct by the Football Association for claiming there was a campaign against Chelsea following a draw at third-placed Southampton.

“Now I am in conditions to control myself and a week ago I couldn’t control my words so to avoid bigger problems I stayed away,” Mourinho explained. “I am not interested in the FA charge, I just ignore it and get on with my job.”

Mourinho also said Chelsea were not planning on doing business during the January transfer window.

Mourinho’s men have topped the table for most of the season but having let a sixpoint lead slip to two in recent weeks with Manchester City hot on their tails, British media speculated Chelsea could bolster their defence.

The Portuguese, though, said he was happy with his squad and had no plans to buy defensive reinforcements despite his back four being carved apart in a 5-3 defeat at local rivals Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago.

“I’m happy with the squad, it is not a big group but a good group,” Mourinho said. “I’ll be happy if nobody leaves or nobody comes but the market is open so you never know.

“I have the two best goalkeepers in the Premier League, I have fantastic defenders. The team defends very well. We conceded five in one game and that is better than conceding one each in five matches and losing five matches.” – Daily Mail, Reuters

JOSE MOURINHO