An unhappy Jose Mourinho says Chelsea are ready to seize on opportunities in the remaining days of the transfer window and insists the Stamford Bridge club did not strike a blow to Manchester United by capturing Pedro ahead of Louis van Gaal’s side.
The Spain forward signed for £21m from Barcelona on Thursday, with the Barclays Premier League champions swooping for a player United had pursued for around a month.
“I don’t want to say we won, they lost, Man United wanted him, didn’t want him,” he said. “The point is that Pedro is a player we like a lot and we are happy to have.”
World Cup and European Championship winner Pedro has been described as “one of the best attacking players in the world”.
“Normally when you are (at Barcelona) you don’t want to leave,” Mourinho added. “For many years he won everything playing with (Lionel) Messi, with (Andres) Iniesta, with all these stars, but he wants more. I think (it) is an evident sign of ambition.”
Mourinho, meanwhile, refused to be drawn on whether Chelsea would return to bid for defender John Stones despite Everton’s rebuttal of a reported three bids, the latest of which was said to be £30m.
Juventus’ former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has also been linked with a £60million move to Stamford Bridge. Again, Mourinho refused to comment.
Van Gaal, meanwhile, has backed Ed Woodward to bring the best players in the world to Old Trafford despite recent criticism of the Manchester United executive vice-chairman.
Woodward has enjoyed a number of hits in the transfer market this summer, most notably in the capture of Memphis Depay – who was wanted by Paris St Germain – and the signing of former Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger.
But the failure to tempt Sergio Ramos to swap Real Madrid for Manchester United prompted criticism of the United executive.
And that criticism inevitably continued when Pedro opted for Chelsea on Thursday.
“I have the idea you want to separate Ed Woodward with me. Never. Never,” said the United manager at a heated press conference. “Because every day I am updated by him and I trust him. I don’t think they (the critics) have to doubt Ed Woodward because he has proven already for many, many years he is the right person on the right spot.”
With Pedro lost, Van Gaal’s attention has turned to Southampton winger Sadio Mane. However, the United manager insisted he did not want to “interfere” with the club’s pursuit of the Senegalese.
David de Gea, meanwhile, is still not sufficiently focused enough it seems to play due to Real Madrid’s interest in him.
“We shall evaluate (whether he can play) after September 1,” Van Gaal said of the goalkeeper.
In the blue half of Manchester, meanwhile, Pablo Zabaleta has been ruled out of tomorrow’s trip to Everton because of a knee injury that could sideline him for a month.
City bolstered their squad by signing Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia this week but the £32m centre-back is likely to have to wait for his debut with captain Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala in good form.
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