During his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Jose Mourinho claimed Willian will not be sold by the club, whilst remaining tight-lipped over targets Stones and Pogba.
Since the signing of winger Pedro from Barcelona, there has been speculation surrounding the Brazilian’s future at Stamford Bridge. According to West London Sport, French media has claimed that Willian has been offered to both PSG and Bayern Munich already.
However, speaking at Friday lunchtime, Mourinho made it very clear that the winger is not for sale:
It is a big lie of the market when I read that the club will sell Willian or that some club wants Willian. Maybe they want – but they don’t get.
The Chelsea manager was less willing to speak about potential moves for either John Stones or Paul Pogba, two players they have long been linked with. When asked about Stones, Mourinho answered:
I don’t speak about players from other clubs, especially when the championship is on.
Similarly, when quizzed on Pogba, he remained quiet but couldn’t resist having a pop at Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri:
He is a Juventus player. I cannot speak about a Juventus player. I know Allegri was all summer speaking about Oscar and Ramires, but I won’t speak about a Juventus player.
It’s no surprise that Mourinho has kept quiet about both Pogba and Stones, especially after Everton manager Roberto Martinez today announced he was not aware of John Stones handing in a transfer request. However, with 11 days left in the summer transfer window, Mourinho still has plenty of time to land another major target.
