Chelsea director lifts the lid on failed moves for Wayne Rooney and John Stones

Wayne Rooney was on Chelsea's radar in 2013

MICHAEL EMENALO has revealed Chelsea had a move for Wayne Rooney rejected in 2013.

 

The Chelsea technical director insists Jose Mourinho's side can still finish well in the Premier League after a difficult start.

After 12 games Chelsea sit 16th, 12 points behind Manchester United in fourth.

And Emenalo points to 2013 - when the Blues missed out on the United skipper - as a mark being able to compete depute having a poor window.

 

Chelsea missed out on John Stones and Paul Pogba this summer and Mourinho was frustrated with the lack of additions.

The Portuguese had to settle for squad players in Asmir Begovic - now playing because of Thibaut Courtois's injury - Radamel Falcao, Papy Djilobodji, Baba Rahman and Pedro.

And while the Barcelona winger looked like a new star man to begin with, his form has dropped and he's found himself out of the team.

 

“We understand as a club this is football and you don’t always get what you want – and that is not to suggest that we didn’t get what we want. We understand that as long as we have done things right and made the right effort there is no need to have regrets," Emenalo told the Telegraph.

“A couple of years ago [summer of 2013] it was well documented we tried to get [Wayne] Rooney. We didn’t get Rooney and we still finished second and started strongly, so there is no correlation between whether we had a big transfer window or not.

"What is important to understand is that as a club we work as a unit to try to get things done and get it done the right way. 

"We didn’t get Stones, not because we didn’t want him but because Everton didn’t want to sell Stones.”