adminChelsea manager Jose Mourinho stoked up his war of words with Manuel Pellegrini on Monday by questioning the Manchester City manager’s sums.Chelsea went to the top of the table with a 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, one point ahead of Arsenal and two in front of City.
Mourinho has said repeatedly that he views City’s expensive squad as the title favourites but Pellegrini recently pointed out that it is Chelsea who have spent the most money in the last decade and also in last month’s transfer window.
“What I’d like to say is that the other day Pellegrini made some comments about the money we have spent,” Mourinho told a news conference.
“I think he’s a fantastic coach who I respect a lot and on top of that he’s an engineer,” said the Portuguese, referring to the fact the City manager studied engineering at university.
“I don’t think an engineer needs a calculator to work out we sold Juan Mata for £37 million last month and Kevin De Bruyne for £18 million.
“That’s £55 million, more or less. We bought Nemanja Matic for £21 million and Mohamed Salah for £11 million. That’s £55 million minus £32 million so Chelsea in this transfer window are at £23 million plus.
“It’s easy to understand that we are working with Financial Fair Play…there are no arguments against that.”
Mourinho, who often provokes and antagonises other managers with barbed comments and memorably said last week that “everything I say or do is mind games”, hinted City were not operating within the same Uefa Financial Fair Play guidelines. “This is what we are doing, others aren’t doing the same,” he said.
“We are building a team for the next decade if possible and City have a team to win now because they don’t have a team for 10 years.”
Mourinho then turned his attentions to City’s Cote d’ Ivoire midfielder Yaya Toure, who aimed an off-the-ball kick at Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Carrow Road.
An FA video review panel decided against charging Toure on Monday but Mourinho, speaking before the verdict, was certain the midfielder should be punished.
“(If he gets off) it means that it doesn’t matter about the cameras, doesn’t matter about the consequences, if the referee doesn’t see it they can do it (but) normally the FA defends football and fair play,” he said.
For his part, Van Wolfswinkel said on Twitter: “Good to see Toure not getting suspended. Players like him belong on the pitch! What happens at Carrow Road stays at Carrow Road.”
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger would not be drawn on the possibility of Robin van Persie making a return to Arsenal, ahead of his side’s clash with Manchester United at Emirates Stadium.
Media reports suggesting Van Persie is unsettled at United have sparked speculation that the Netherlands striker could make what would be a remarkable return to the club he left in the summer of 2012.
When asked about the rumours at his prematch news conference yesterday, Wenger said: “I don’t think that’s an ideal subject for us to treat today. I think it is best we don’t talk about that at the moment.
“Robin van Persie is a great player. We know that. It doesn’t mean he has to score [against Arsenal on Wednesday]. It depends how we defend against him.”
Van Persie had won the Premier League in his debut campaign at Old Trafford but has found life tougher since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
Ferguson’s successor, David Moyes, has come under fire, with United currently nine points behind fourth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League, but Wenger has insisted the former Everton boss is the right man to take the club forwards.
“You need time and patience,” he said. “You need to be in a strong club and I think he will be given time to do it. When a person has been at a club for such a long time, there is always a void created when he goes. I believe that Moyes, if given time, will do that perfectly. They continue the same style of play.
“We consider them as a strong side and a team that has quality. Their season is difficult to judge. We consider we play against a good team and we want to beat them.”
Arsenal will be looking for a response to the shock 5-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday when they host United, but Wenger maintains his squad has the necessary strength to cope with a testing run of fixtures that will see them face Liverpool again in the FA Cup at the weekend before hosting European champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week.
Tonight’s fixtures
Stoke City v Swansea City 21:45, Arsenal v Manchester United 21:45, Manchester City v Sunderland 21:45, Everton v Crystal Palace 21:45, Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur 21:45, Fulham v Liverpool, Craven Cottage 22:00- Soccernet.
Online Reporter