Unhappy Mourinho’s mood is lifted by arrival of £21m Pedro
AN UNHAPPY Jose Mourinho says Chelsea are ready to seize on opportunities in the remaining days of the transfer window after capturing Pedro ahead of Manchester United.
The Spain forward signed for £21 million from Barcelona on Thursday, as the Premier League champions swooped for a player United had pursued for around a month.
Mourinho was asked if the arrivals of Pedro and Baba Rahman, a left-back signed from German club Augsburg after last Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City, provided a boost for his squad reeling from Chelsea’s worst start in 17 years.
“Normally we train very well. This week we trained better than ever,” Mourinho said ahead of tomorrow’s clash at West Bromwich Albion.
“Why? Because we are not happy. I’m not happy with the results, the players are not happy.
“We want to do better and the only way is to work well. New players are always welcome so obviously I’m happy that both of them came to us.
“People used to call it the transfer window. I sometimes call it the opportunity window. While the window is open there is always an opportunity.”
Mourinho insists Chelsea did not strike a blow to United by taking Pedro ahead of Louis van Gaal’s side.
“I don’t want to say we won, they lost, Man United wanted him, didn’t want him,” he added.
“The point is that Pedro is a player we like a lot and we are happy to have.” THE English Premier League has taken the unusual step of publicly saying Liverpool’s winning goal against Bournemouth on Monday should have been disallowed.
Christian Benteke’s close-range goal at Anfield was allowed to stand by referee Craig Pawson despite Philippe Coutinho being in an offside position and attempting to play the ball.
The league says Coutinho’s actions impacted on goalkeeper Artur Boruc who had to “delay his action to wait and see if the attacking player in an offside position touches/plays the ball”.
The league has written to clubs clarifying this new interpretation of the globally-applicable offside rule.
Benteke secured Liverpool’s second 1-0 win of the season after Bournemouth had a goal by Tommy Elphick ruled out for a push earlier in the game.
The statement from the league added: “The Premier League does not generally comment on decisions made by match officials. However, given the recent change to the interpretation of the offside law and the fact that it was made close to the start of the season, the league felt it was appropriate, in this instance, to publish in order to inform fans and other stakeholders.”