Jose Mourinho is ready to sell one of his defenders after
confirming the capture of Juliano Belletti from Barcelona had
brought his summer spending to a close. Belletti arrived from Barca
for £4million after Chelsea ended their interest in Sevilla's
Daniel Alves because of the inflated price tag of more than
£25million.
Belletti, 31, will go straight into the squad for the home game
with Portsmouth and while Mourinho insisted there would be no more
new faces, he also made it clear he was willing to trim his squad.
Chelsea now have Glen Johnson, Lassana Diarra and Paul Ferreira as
support right-backs to Belletti and it seems certain one of them
will leave before the end of the month.
The favourite to move on is Arsenal target Diarra. He has already
indicated his desire to leave and with the success of Mikel John
Obi in midfield, Mourinho may be ready to grant his wish. Mourinho
said: "First of all, this new player gives me what I need which is
a closed door in my dressing room. That is very important for me.
"The market is open until August 31st but not for us. We have the
new signings we fought for and we have the balance in the
squad.
"But I want my squad to be just a little bit smaller. We have 27
players because Belletti comes in but Arjen Robben goes out, and if
we can, we will go down to 26. "Our squad is a very balanced one.
We have two players for each position and the right-back position
is a position where we have more than two. "For the interest of the
players, because everyone likes to play and not just be part of the
squad, if clubs show a real interest in one of our players and our
player shows interest in leaving for a better situation, that is
okay. "But it is not a drama for me to keep 27 because they are all
good players, they are useful and the season is long."
Mourinho would not indicate which of the right-backs he was
prepared to let go but it is unlikely to be Ferreira. Mourinho
added: "Paulo is a player that I trust very much. Paulo is with me
for six consecutive years and everything that I have won, he has
won with me. "From the defensive point of view he is a safe player.
The reason why I wanted to bring in a different right-back is
Chelsea, this season, is a different team, as everyone can
feel.
"There is a different philosophy of playing so I felt I needed
something different on the right, but no doubts, Paulo is a player
that I love and I trust. "Belletti brings what we believe we need,
a pure right-back, not an adaptation any more like we did so many
times with Diarra, Michael Essien and Shaun Wright-Phillips in that
position. "So we have an attacking right-back and not an ordinary
one. He has played in two of the biggest teams in the world - the
Brazil national team and for Barcelona. In Brazil he was world
champion and in Barcelona he was not just Spanish champion but also
European champion."
Belletti has enjoyed World Cup success with Brazil and scored in
the Champions League final win against Arsenal in 2006. His
experience allowed Mourinho to switch his attention to the Barca
right-back when Sevilla priced Alves out of the market - insisting
that Belletti was the "best player at the best price".
Mourinho added: "Belletti has experience of playing in big teams so
he is not scared to play at Chelsea. "Was he the first option or
the second option? For me the point is always the same, the best
player is always the best relation between quality and price.
"Belletti is a very good player and the relation between his
quality and the price makes him the best."
The Brazilian paid tribute to Mourinho and immediately set his
sights on Champions League success with his new club. Belletti
said: "Everybody knows Mr Mourinho is one of the best coaches in
the world. When he goes for a player, he knows what he wants and he
goes for quality. I am sure Chelsea will only be successful under
his direction. "When you play for a team like Chelsea, you always
go into games thinking about winning. "The philosophy is to win
every competition we are in so I hope we can win that one. Why
not?"
