Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has admitted that he played no part in bringing Papy Djilobodji to Stamford Bridge on deadline day. The 26-year-old joined from FC Nantes for £3 million and signed alongside Michael Hector who joined from Reading just hours later. Mourinho, who failed to land his top target John Stones during the transfer window, today also defended his decision to leave Djilobodji out of his Champions League squad.
Speaking during Friday’s press conference, when asked about the signing Mourinho said:
It was not my choice. It was the choice of someone I trust completely, which is the same. I don’t know every player.
The boss then went on reveal that the decision was made by the same scout that brought Kurt Zouma to Chelsea:
In my case, I trust because the same person who told me Djilobodji can be a good squad player was the same person who told me Zouma can be a fantastic player for us. Obviously I trust him.
Papy Djilobodji was left out of Chelsea’s 26 man Champions League squad, and Mourinho today gave reasons why.
Djilobodji is one of our four central defenders and hopefully useful for us. But if he is in the Champions League squad Traore or Kenedy are not in the list.
Without the Senegalese centre-back, Chelsea has four other players capable of playing that role, so it would be very unlikely Chelsea would have needed to call upon Djilobodji. Mourinho is also hoping to give Kenedy and Traore some playing time in the group stage, which would provide them some valuable experience:
Traore and Kenedy are young players working with us from day one and we believe it can be a fantastic opportunity if they can play a few minutes in the Champions League.
The Blues begin their Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening, as they host Israeli side Maccabi Tel-Aviv at Stamford Bridge. It should be one of Chelsea’s easier Champions League fixtures, as they travel to Porto and Dynamo Kyiv in the following weeks.
