Bringing Radamel Falcao and Ángel Di Maria to the Cobham Training Centre (Chelsea F.C. Training Ground) did cross the mind of Chelsea’s front office management. Jose Mourinho, its coach, declined the offer.
“I can’t have a player earning 10 million when others earn three, four or five. That would have caused an explosion,” said Mourinho.
Both players earn a combined £465,000-a-week at Manchester United. For the Special One, that sum of money would have put his team in financial problems and could have created locker room conflicts as well.
“But if Chelsea doesn’t have the financial capacity to pay eight, nine or ten million euros a year, it’s because of (financial) fair play,” Mou added.
The same man who takes care of promoting both players represents Chelsea’s coach. Jorge Mendes was obviously looking for higher salaries than what The Blues could offer according to Mourinho.
Di Maria signed for five years with his current club for a British record fee of £59.7 million, worth close to 70 million with add-ons. The Argentinian midfielder has since then played in 13 games while scoring three goals and making six assists.
El Tigre has seen action in the same number of games and scored the same number of goals with only three assists. There is some speculation that the Colombian striker could be leaving his club at the end of his one-year £16 million loan.
Instead of bringing those names and numbers to Chelsea, Mou opted on players like Diego Costa from Atlético de Madrid. The 26-year-old striker should be receiving £32 million in five years. After 19 games, the Spaniard has scored 17 goals, two of them last week against Swansea City.
With 17 goals in 19 appearances with The Blues, Diego Costa has proven his value to Mourinho.
Mourinho’s plans seem to be working. Today, Chelsea leads the Premier League standings with 52 points in 32 games. They are five points ahead of Man City, their next rival in the regular season.
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