Some interesting comments by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho that he he is motivated by the challenge of adhering to the Financial Fair Play rules at Chelsea.
Mourinho told the club’s official website:
“It’s very motivational and demands more from you. You have to think more about every decision and every move.
“Every wrong move you make has an influence on the future. You need to work more closely with the board in the financial area, you have to have a different perspective and a different look at the players on loan and youth football.
“It’s more global. Instead of just focusing on your team, and your targets and ambitions, it’s an overall view. It’s a different profile of job and I’m happy with that, I’m enjoying that.”
He added:
“We need to go back to this stability,” he added. “It’s important for the players, for the young players’ development, for the club, for the fan base and for the economic situation which is more important with Financial Fair Play.
“This is what we want, me as a manager, the owner and the board. The owner and the board want stability and then after that if we are working well and working together, success comes naturally.
“Everybody accepts the way we are going. I’m not trying to push in a different way. We are all in the same direction.”
Not quite the comments that Chelsea fans expected to hear from the “Happy One”. Chelsea fans were hoping for another spending spree, much like the one that took place when Mourinho first landed at Chelsea.
But maybe for the first time, Mourinho has been told that he has a budget to adhere to? That could explain the rumors of Juan Mata and David Luiz being sold, as Mourinho could need to sell before making a big money purchase of a striker like Cavani or Hulk.
But that is not the future that Chelsea fans expect. They are used to Roman Abramovich splashing the cash and Chelsea being able to basically sign whoever they want. If suddenly Chelsea are adhering to FFP rules, then they are at a major disadvantage to their Premier League rivals. Chelsea’s ground is much smaller than United’s and Arsenal’s and with Man City, Spurs and Liverpool all talking about stadium expansion, Chelsea’s matchday revenues will continue to lag behind their rivals.
And on the commercial side, Chelsea’s commercial revenue is much lower than United’s. Will Chelsea fans, and more importantly will Abramovich, be happy seeing Chelsea lose out on top players because they now have to adhere to a spending limit for the first time in almost a decade? Not so sure about that.
That is the challenge with FFP. All these clubs, like Chelsea, Man City, Monaco and PSG, have owners who can afford to buy whatever they want, whenever they want it. Now they are facing a situation where they are being told they cannot buy a player that they want. How will they react to that?
