Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea will next season cease to be
among the first rank of football's big spenders. Reflecting on a
season in which the Londoners missed out on the Premiership title,
the Portuguese manager is clearly preparing himself for a future
without Roman Abramovich's millions to underpin his club's
ambitions.
"People ask Chelsea, 'Last season you won two trophies: why did you
not win four?' But not many journalists ask Rafael Benítez and
Arsène Wenger, 'Why zero?' And not many people ask Manchester
United, 'Why only the Premiership?'
"Is it about money? If it is, I hope that next season the media put
pressure on the big spenders because for sure the big spenders will
not be Chelsea," he said in the club's magazine. "The spenders will
be Manchester United, Tottenham and maybe Arsenal. I don't know,
but it won't be Chelsea. So maybe at the beginning of next season
they will say that Chelsea are not the favourites any more because
they do not spend so much money."
Despite the move away from exorbitant signings, however, Mourinho
went on to outline his targets, the Premiership and Champions
League titles. "Many Chelsea fans will say that winning the first
FA Cup at Wembley was brilliant, we enjoy Carling Cup victories,
but next season we want the title back plus the Champions League
more than anything else."
Chelsea's two Champions League semi-final defeats to Liverpool
clearly still rankle. "Liverpool fans can continue to chant 'No
history' at us but we continue to make it. They have their history;
we have our history. They are a club with a history in Europe that
Chelsea don't have and their history is magnificent, but I think
they haven't won a championship in 17 years and we have won two in
the last three years."
