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.
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The Spain worldwide left Barcelona for Stamford Bridge in a £21.4million deal on Thursday, ending a summer of speculation which had him linked predominantly with United.
“This week we got a very good young left-back [Baba Rahman] that we need with potential and we got one of the best attacking players in the world”, Mourinho said on Friday. He wants to play, to win and to enjoy.
“I only want to beat United on the pitch, if that’s possible”, he told a press conference at the club’s training ground. “It’s a moment for Pedro to enjoy a different step”.
But Mourinho, who also criticised the performances of several Chelsea players and himself, refused to gloat at having apparently put one over rivals Manchester United, who had been regarded as favourites to secure his signature.
Nicolas Otamendi, Pedro, Florian Thauvin are the latest recruits to join the Premier League and it will be interesting to see if they will be fired into the limelight by their respective managers and given their first starts. A 3-0 drubbing to an effervescent Manchester City side last time out sufficed as a dose of firm reality for the fans, but not Mourinho as he labelled the loss a “fake result” and a figment of the imagination. But, for me, the first thing is I’m not happy with my form, because I used to get better results than I’m getting (now).
“I don’t want to go in that direction. The point is Pedro is a player we like a lot and we are happy to have”.
Further signings could follow, if the chance arises before the September 1 deadline.
“I don’t speak about players from other clubs, especially when the championship is on”, he said.
Tenerife-born Pedro has featured in Barcelona’s three most recent games in the UEFA Super Cup and the two-legged Spanish Super Cup, which they lost to Basque club Athletic Bilbao. So I’m quiet.
“‘Is it true that you want to leave Barcelona?’ ‘Yes, it’s true”.
He added: “Can you do something that you really believe you cannot lose the opportunity to do?”
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Captain John Terry is likely to start in defence at West Brom despite being substituted at half-time at City, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will return from suspension in place of Asmir Begovic.
