Jose Mourinho reveals why he had to beat Manchester United to signing of Pedro

REUTERS/Chelsea FC/Press Association Images

JOSE MOURINHO insisted that as soon as he knew Pedro wanted to leave Barcelona, he had to have the Spanish star at Chelsea.

 

Mourinho this week beat his Manchester United rival Louis Van Gaal to the signature of Pedro in an audacious £21million swoop.

The goalscoring winger is set to make his debut at West Brom on Sunday, alongside new £21m full-back Baba Rahman, as Chelsea try to get their season back on track after taking just one point from their opening two matches.

 

But the Chelsea manager insisted that the point was not beating United to a player he wanted – but just getting the player.

Mourinho said: “We have got one of the best attacking players in the world, a player with lots of experience and with something that I like very - which is the desire to leave a giant club, one of the best clubs in the world, a club that normally you don't want to leave.

“For a player like him, loved at Barcelona, loves the club himself - and he wants to leave because he wants something more, that's a sign of ambition.

 

“He wants to play every game. He's won everything, playing with Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta,  all these stars. But he wants more, and I'm really happy.

"He comes to play and win, and not to have a holiday. This is a moment to leave his comfort zone for a new challenge, a new club in a new country.”

The Chelsea manager added: “I only want to beat United on the pitch. Our job here is not to try to get a player that another club wants. Our job is to get the players we think are good for us.

"I don't want to say we won or lost. The point is Pedro is a player we are happy to have.

 

“When I'm told a player wants to leave Barcelona, Real Madrid, these giant clubs, I always ask myself why. Normally there are lots of rumours and it's never true, but it was true here.

“People used to call it the transfer window. I call it the opportunity window. While the window is open, there is always an opportunity. As a club, decided not to lose out. We tried to get him. And we are happy that the player chose us.”

Mourinho’s spending has not finished, and he is set to increase his offer for Everton defender John Stones to £40m in the next few days, and is also talking to Juventus about midfielder Paul Pogba, insisted that he and his squad have been working harder than ever this week after the 3-0 drubbing at Manchester City last week.

He said: “We trained better than ever. Why? Because we are not happy. I'm not happy with the results. The players are not happy. We want to do better, and there is only one way: to work well, and better than ever.”

Mourinho also hinted that his medical staff on the bench at the Hawthorns will be unchanged, with doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn still set to be excluded.