Jose Mourinho arrived in Istanbul on Monday night livid that remarks he made in a private conversation that undermine his strikers had been secretly filmed and broadcast.
Mourinho was caught in conversation with the boss of Swiss watch-makers Hublot, explaining that Chelsea did not have anyone to score goals. He joked that Samuel Eto’o was probably older than 32 and hinted that an ideal solution may be to sign Radamel Falcao because the Colombian deserved a bigger audience than he had at Monaco.
“The problem with Chelsea is I lack a scorer,” Mourinho said in French. “I have Eto’o but he is 32 years old, maybe 35, who knows?”
On Falcao, signed from Porto for £50 million (Dh305.51 million) last year and understood to be among Chelsea’s top targets, he added: “I need a striker. Falcao needs a club. A player like him cannot play in front of 3,000 people. Monaco is a club to end [your career with].”
The inference is clear for Eto’o, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba on the eve of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16, first leg against Galatasaray.
The conversation was recorded by French broadcasters Canal+ in Switzerland on February 17 and appeared as a video clip on their website. It has since been removed, but Mourinho’s words had already been well circulated, much to his embarrassment.
The incident has darkened his mood on the eve of a reunion with Didier Drogba, the Galatasaray striker and Chelsea legend of the first Mourinho era. Drogba left Stamford Bridge in 2012 and the club have yet to replace his immense presence.
Galatasaray have already expressed a desire to keep Drogba in Istanbul beyond this summer but the Ivorian, who turns 36 next month, says his passion for Chelsea remains undiminished and he has not ruled out a return if he receives an offer when he becomes a free agent in June.
When asked during an interview with the Daily Mail if he could come back to the Premier League, Drogba said: “If, and I say if, by any chance it could happen, it would only be with one team.
“My contract ends this summer and then I will decide what is the best solution for me. But I had a great time at Chelsea and, if Jose was saying, ‘Didier, I want you to come back’, I would think about it.”
