Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho insists the English Premier League champions have no plans to make significant additions to his squad, revealing that he is relishing the prospect of mounting a title defense with the same set of players.
Apart from the arrival of striker Radamel Falcao and the departure of goalkeeper Petr Cech, Chelsea have been largely inactive in the summer transfer window, while rivals such as Manchester United have spent heavily.
Although Chelsea continue to be linked with a move for Everton’s English defender John Stones, Mourinho is adamant there is no chance of the club making a major splurge in the transfer market.
“In this moment we do not want players,” Mourinho said. “Of course we must be ready because the market is open and if someone comes for one of our players with a bid, we must be ready to act.”
“We need a leftback ... but other positions we have no space,” he added.
While the likes of Manchester United have bolstered their squad with an array of high-caliber signings, including World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, Mourinho insists he is happy with what he has.
Asked if he was targeting the UEFA Champions League this season, Mourinho said: “It is not my main objective. I have only one objective — to win tomorrow. I have no other objectives other than to improve, improve and improve.”
“It is a nice challenge to improve with no new players. I think the players we have are happy because the club trusts them. We are saying: ‘You are the champions, we trust you, we believe in you,’” he added.
Mourinho said Chelsea’s coaching staff were focusing instead on trying to make the team more “unpredictable.”
“We have exactly the same players, the squad and the team is basically the same. We are competing against teams who are going to be better because of the money they have spent. A team that buys one, two, three or four players and spends 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 million is going to improve,” he said.
“So we have to improve what we have already. We are trying to give them some new qualities, try to be a little bit more unpredictable and go through the season with high motivation,” he added.
Chelsea were to play the opening game of their pre-season tour against the New York Red Bulls in New Jersey yesterday and face Paris Saint-Germain in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday.
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