Chelsea have been publicly in pursuit of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney over the last few weeks. Their first offer of £ 20 million was rejected by the Premier league champions. However, they are reported to be preparing another offer for the 27-year-old. José Mourinho has publicly stated that Rooney is a player he would like to have at Chelsea, while also stating that he remains as the only transfer target for the club. Chelsea have made their transfer business for the summer very early, as the likes of Marco van Ginkel arrived even before the start of pre-season.
Mourinho said that if Chelsea did not get Rooney in this transfer window, then he would not be disappointed at all because he is happy with his squad. There have been several concerns that if Chelsea get Rooney, they would have to sell another player in order to balance the books. The club is one of the many in Europe to be on the fringes of UEFA financial fair play regulations. If any club does not meet the criteria of UEFA, then they could be thrown out of the European competitions.
Mourinho, though, thinks that the arrival of Rooney will not be a problem for the club because they have the ability to spend £ 30 million without needing to sell another player.
“The club is in a very good balance with salaries, income, outcome. So not to break the balance in our numbers and to still invest in a player that costs £20m, £25m, £30m — the club is ready for that. Do we need to sell first? No, no, no, we don’t need to sell,” said Mourinho. The former Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager has stated that he would like to do his transfer business very early and not when the season starts.