Chelsea transfer news: Jose Mourinho hints at further signings to bolster Blues' title defence

The manager admitted his club have been frustrated in the summer market

Mourinho says the Premier League is hard to retain because the champions force all other challengers to react with big statements in the market (PA)

Jose Mourinho has admitted that Chelsea may have to make another signing beyond a defender such as Augsburg’s Baba Rahman or Everton’s John Stones in order to win the title. He also insisted the reason the Premier League is so hard to retain is because the champions force all other challengers to react with big statements in the market – something his club have not yet done this summer.

The Portuguese manager had previously been in lock-down mode over the story regarding his medical department, but did open up about signings ahead of his team’s trip to Manchester City today, having admitted to the Saturday newspapers that Chelsea have been frustrated in the market.

“Yes, it’s a possibility,” Mour-inho said when asked whether Chelsea would buy another player. “The market is open and you know that a defender we are going to do for sure, for sure. One defender comes for sure and the other part of that [question], maybe yes, maybe not.”

When asked why no-one has successfully defended the title in six years, Mourinho put it down to the effect of that success on the transfer window. “In the Premier League, if you win the title, how many teams are able to react against that?” he said. “A lot of them can react. You can go to Germany, how many teams can really react against Bayern Munich? They’ve won three in a row and probably are going to win it for the fourth time.

“Here, Man City won and Chelsea was not happy, Manchester United was not happy, Arsenal was not happy and Liverpool was not happy. Chelsea – Diego Costa, [Cesc] Fabregas, [Thibaut] Courtois; Arsenal – Alexis Sanchez, [Mesut] Özil. This season Chelsea are champions; Liverpool and Man United bought. Arsenal – Petr Cech. People react.

“Man City, the first thing they did in the summer was [Raheem] Sterling. The first bid, second bid, Liverpool did not accept. But [City] wanted to do it and they did it. If they were champions they probably would not have attacked the market in the same way. Here and in the Champions League people react. It’s more difficult to be champions.

“If we are not buying a lot, the way to compete against the improvement of other teams is that we have to be better. Individually, every one of us has to perform better.

“But are we right or wrong? Do we need a couple of players to create some improvement, some instability in positions, or no? That’s the point we can discuss.

“But the reality is this: when you have direct opponents, economically powerful, institutionally powerful, they want to react. So, we have it in the Premier League and we have it in the Champions League, the two most competitive competitions in European football.”

When asked whether he was surprised City had not sacked Manuel Pellegrini for last season’s failure, he said no… but did allow some mischief. “Why? Some other clubs, they are disappointed for 15 years and the manager is the same.”