Mourinho kick-starts mind games JOSE MOURINHO
JOSE MOURINHO

JOSE MOURINHO

NEW YORK. — Jose Mourinho has broken his summer silence to stir the pot ahead of the English Premier League soccer season kick-off by attacking two of his chief title rivals. The Chelsea manager has criticised Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini for talking about him when he should be on holiday, and said Arsene Wenger is not the miser his reputation suggests when it comes to the transfer market.

Pellegrini gave an interview in Chile last month and blasted Mourinho for being self-obsessed and “taking the credit for everything”, and the Chelsea manager said: “When a manager is on holiday and still thinks about me, I have nothing to say. I don’t know why he did it.

“In my holidays I did zero interviews. Of course I am still thinking about football, but I don’t do any interviews, at least in that time. You are free of everything – questions, answers, controversy, interpretation and over-reaction.

“My holiday time – zero. If other guys use holiday time also for interviews, it’s their problem. I finished the season, I went on holiday, not a battle with the other managers.”

Mourinho’s squad are heading back to London from their American tour today to prepare for Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Arsenal.

He thinks the Gunners will mount a real challenge this term, but reckons Arsene Wenger gets off lightly when it comes to critics blasting the Premier League big spenders.

The Gunners boss has spent £405million in the last 10 years, splurging over £100m since 2013 on Mezut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and Danny Welbeck.

The Chelsea boss has locked horns with his Arsenal counterpart on numerous occasions, famously describing the Frenchman as a “specialist in failure” and a “voyeur”.

Now he has claimed Chelsea won the title last season spending far less money than the Gunners chief.

Mourinho said: “If you add up the amounts the clubs have spent in the last three or four years I think maybe you will find a surprise.

“Get a calculator. That is one of the easiest things to do. It leaves no space for speculation. If you want to be honest, objective and pragmatic it is the easiest job for a manager or a journalist to do.

“They have bought a fantastic goalkeeper and that is a position which is very important in a team.

“If you put Ozil plus Sanchez, plus Chambers, plus Debuchy you will maybe find a surprise.”

Over the last 12 months Arsenal have spent more than £100million in the transfer market while Chelsea spent £82m.

Arsenal’s total included £33million on Alexis Sanchez, £16million on Calum Chambers, £16million on Danny Welbeck and £13.5million on Gabriel Paulista in January.

While Mourinho is pursuing John Stones – rated a British record £34million for a defender by Everton – he believes Wenger has managed to escape scrutiny for his lack of title success in relation to the money he has spent, £11m of which he has just spent on buying keeper Petr Cech from Chelsea.

Mourinho added: “It’s a fantastic squad with good players, fantastic goalkeeper. They are more than ready to be title contenders.

“Everyone of us should expect to win the title. We have five teams who will play for the title, only one will win and one of us will be playing Europa League in two years.

“That is the reality, five teams for four Champions League positions, only one will be champion and one in Europa League.” So far this summer Mourinho has spent £8million on reserve keeper Asmir Begovic and brought in Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan.

Mourinho is also closing in on a £15.5million deal for Napoli forward Jose Callejon, who has scored 26 goals in the last two seasons in Italy, and his £26m chase for Everton defender John Stones continues. — Daily Express.

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