According to reports from The Guardian, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will not ask the board to finance new signings during the January transfer window.
The west Londoners enter Saturday’s clash with Norwich City 16th in the table, just three points above the relegation zone and 13 points away from a Champions League spot, amid an unprecedented slump in results for reigning Premier League champions.
Many have queried the club’s limited activity during the summer transfer window as a potential cause, having spent just shy of £70million – less than half the outlay of the Premier League’s current table toppers Manchester City – and invested predominantly in squad rather than starting Xi additions, such as Pedro, Radamel Falcao, Asmir Begovic and Abdul Rahman Baba.
Likewise, it has been widely reported over the last few weeks that Jose Mourinho could administer a cull of this season’s most disappointing performers in January in what would be a mini-revolution of his first team squad, with Falcao particularly mooted as a potential departure amid rumours that he wants to return to parent club Monaco for the second half of the campaign.
But during today’s pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s 3pm clash at Stamford Bridge, the Blues boss insisted that he will not be making any changes to his squad in the coming transfer window.
He said; “I will not ask for any changes [in the transfer window]. I’m happy with the players I have. I trust the players I have. I don’t need to ‘clean’ the dressing room, as I heard has been written. And I don’t need to ask the club to spend money in January. We put ourselves in a great situation together by being champions. Now we put ourselves together in this situation in the Premier League; so we have to be together, again, to put it right.”
When asked whether his Chelsea team can become the first side in Premier League history to recover from such a lowly position in November to claim a Champions League spot by the end of the season, Mourinho simply replied; “yes”.