Rumours Galore: The Jorge Mendes Effect
The most bizarre rumour so far has to be Bild’s claim that the Real Madrid boss texted Robert Lewandowski ahead of yesterday’s match against Borussia Dortmund and said he wants him with him at Stamford Bridge (how could they know?) and people were reading way too much into a pat on the back last night also, but the stronger rumours all seem to link back to one man – Jorge Mendes.
Mendes is of course the agent of Mourinho, but is it more than coincidence that we are being heavily linked to players that are also clients of his?
Sky Italia, who admittedly say a lot of things but have been known to earn an exclusive or two with Pep Guardiola to Bayern Munich being the biggest scoop this season, reckon that Roman Abramovich wants to welcome back his former manager and will promise him four big-name signings.
Radamel Falcao, long term target of Chelsea’s, is naturally top of the list whilst Joao Moutinho (no-brainer), Angel di Maria and Pepe will all be pursued if Mourinho finalises a move back to West London. All of them have Mendes in common and it throws extra weight behind the rumours, although I’m not gullible enough to take it as a given or even the whole truth.
Falcao and Moutinho are obvious players to be linked with and if Mourinho was the Chelsea manager then there’s no doubt he could exploit his connections to land them. Whilst I admire di Maria as a player I’m not sure where he would fit in, especially is Andre Schurrle’s deal goes through but I’d have him ahead of the German. I am really baffled by the Pepe link as even Jose prefers to leave him out of the big games lately and he’s proved on many occasions that he just can’t be trusted, perhaps it’s just Mendes himself touting his name.
Mourinho was not so subtle when revealing that he hopes to go somewhere he was loved following Real’s exit from the Champions League last night. He went on to speak of his mutual love of England, it’s fans and a media that he believes praises and criticises him fairly. Perhaps he anticipated the onslaught from the Spanish media today and decided to get his shot off first as his position at the Santiago Bernabeu has become untenable.
Wherever he goes he brings pomp and ceremony and despite my criticisms over his playing style and lack of interest in player development (so far), he does bring the personality of a winner and will fight the club’s corner whenever we’re challenged. I also haven’t given up hope that perhaps Mourinho has decided it’s time to settle down after proving that he can win anywhere, he may even agree with Abramovich over the vision of the club, who knows?
…I hope Mourinho’s arrival would spell the end of Ron Gourlay and Michael Emenalo, plus a few quality signings to boot.