Mourinho to keep calm and carry on his pursuit of striker Rooney
CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho is determined to maintain a level-headed approach in his big-money pursuit of striker Wayne Rooney, despite Manchester United’s insistence that they do not wish to sell him.
United rejected the Blues’ £20m bid for Rooney last week and manager David Moyes is insistent the unsettled England striker has a future at Old Trafford, with the 26-year-old even fronting the club’s social media promotion of a friendly with AIK in Sweden next month.
Chelsea, who beat BNI Indonesia All-Stars 8-1 in Jakarta yesterday, are thought to be preparing an improved offer for the player Mourinho has earmarked as his “only” transfer target this summer.
And the Portuguese manager is unperturbed by the lack of progress.
“At this moment we have made what you know, that bid which was public and official and after that nothing else,” he said. “But we are calm as we told you, we are calm because we are happy with what we have.”
Meanwhile Moyes is also being forced to stay patient in pursuit of his own number one transfer target, Cesc Fabregas.
Barcelona have turned down two bids from United for the Spain midfielder, the most recent believed to be £30m plus add-ons.
However, United are not ready to give up their quest with Moyes, whose team play Cerezo Osaka today, insisting: “It is ongoing”.
QPR’s pursuit of striker Gary Hooper appears to have been hijacked by Norwich, after the Premier League club had an 11th-hour bid accepted by Celtic.
Rangers were confident of completing the signing of the
25-year-old, after having a £5m bid, lodged last week, accepted.
However, Norwich now appear to have stolen a march on Harry Redknapp’s team, relegated from the top flight last term.
Definitely arriving in west London though, is 18-year-old midfielder Ange-Freddy Plumain who has joined Fulham from Lens on a free transfer.
Plumain will be part of the Cottagers’ development squad that will play in the Under-21 Premier League next season.