When asked whether the 27-year-old would regain his place in Chelsea’s starting line-up, Mourinho said: “I don’t know, but he’s selected”.
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The manager had hoped to have a full squad at his disposal for the visit of Bournemouth but will be without that trio, though he delivered good news in Thibaut Courtois’ return to the squad.
Standard Sport reported on Thursday that Chelsea were aware of their players’ plans, and no club curfews were broken, which has now been confirmed by Mourinho.
Courtois could displace Asmir Begovic on Saturday after being included in the Blues’ match-day squad for the first time since suffering the injury playing for Belgium in September. The only thing that matters for me is that he trained very well. They told me that dinner was good and after dinner was even better.
That presents Jose with an interesting dilemma, although initially he may stick with Begovic at the Bridge on Saturday, and put Courtois between the sticks against Porto in the Champions League clash on Wednesday. Always played. Was on the bench one match, which is more than natural.
Galatasaray are understood to be eyeing a move for Chelsea frontman Diego Costa.
Jose Mourinho predicted a close race for the Premier League title, and although the Chelsea manager could not have envisaged last season’s champions languishing in the bottom half of the table, he has so far been proved right.
“I would say a bit, but not much”, he said.
“If we continue to play the way we are doing, that will happen very quickly”.
“I think they needed it, yes”.
‘To be fair, I see him better than before in terms of his integration. “To lose him for a few matches [is tough] but we knew we had good protection”. “Thibaut was our keeper all last season and you know how fundamental he was, it’s important to have him back. Now we are again in a super situation by having the best and a very good one”.
Bournemouth do boast an impressive recent record on their travels to London, though, winning three of their last four games in the capital. Nemanja Matic is fit to play with a protective mask after sustaining two broken bones in his face against Tottenham.
Mourinho added that the Christmas party had allowed the players to unwind.
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Bournemouth’s season has been affected by a succession of major injuries to key players, but Eddie Howe’s side were handed a major boost last weekend when they recovered deep in stoppage-time to rescue a 3-3 draw against Everton.
