Mourinho happy to be thrifty
Mourinho will have to make do with lower-profile signings over the summer
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Saturday, 02, Jun 2007 03:22
Jose Mourinho has claimed he is content to work within new strict transfer constraints at Stamford Bridge.
Despite the backing of Russian oil oligarch Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's club policy is thought to have moved on from the days of multi-million pound moves for the game's superstars.
The Blues' activity in the summer market so far seems to confirm the change in direction with new arrivals Reading's Steve Sidwell, Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizarro and Brazilian defender Alex all captured on free transfers.
The outlay on the trio contrasts markedly with the spending of champions Manchester United who are thought to have already splashed out in excess of £50 million on Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson.
"The philosophy is we spent money before, built the squad for a long time and don't need to make big investments season after season," Mourinho told the Times.
"If you tell me we have exactly the same squad as last season without injuries, I accept immediately.
"I don't need one single more player or one single more pound. I accept it. Our squad is good. It's impossible to have such a difficult season as we just had."
Mourinho's pursuit of the quadruple ended with only the two lesser trophies, the F.A. Cup and the Carling Cup, locked away in the Blues' trophy cabinet.
But the Portuguese tactician has insisted that injuries to key players such as Petr Cech, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho proved an impossible handicap in the battle on four fronts.