Mourinho: I´m not trying to sign Drogba
THE SPECIAL ONE
By dixon9
November 30 2008
Inter and ex-Chelsea manager José Mourinho has confirmed that he is not trying to sign Didier Drogba. Speculation began at the beginning of the week when Gazzetta Dello Sport claimed that the Ivorian hit-man had met Inter officials and Mourinho´s agent in a Fulham restaurant on Monday evening – just a few hours before departing with the squad to Bordeaux.
"We have a tricky situation here, as we have (Hernan) Crespo, (Julio) Cruz, Adriano and (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic,"
"I understand that when there is talk of his (Drogba) unhappiness at the Blues, Inter's name will inevitably come out.
"That is down to the rapport that exists between us, but there is nothing else in it. I hope he rediscovers joy and happiness and that he can play at his level."
Mourinho had also denied knowledge of the supposed meeting along with Inter president Moratti on Tuesday whilst not really confirming one way or the other if they wanted to sign Drogba.
Drogba himself told the press “No comment about the supposed meeting” just after the Bordeaux match.
However, Moratti has also commented today that they do not want to sign another forward.
Nevertheless Mourinho spoke fondly of Drogba:
"It is easy for me to talk about him, because he is like a son to me,"
"I remember every moment we spent together: from when I wanted him at Chelsea and he first arrived at Stamford Bridge, to the cup final at Wembley when he hugged me before his team-mates, seeking me out like crazy in the locker room.
"But it is also difficult for me to talk about him, because he is a Chelsea player, he has a contract with them and can choose between many different teams when he wants to leave."
Despite Mourinho´s mischievious reference to Drogba being unhappy, Scolari told press this afternoon that the player was happy whenever he saw him in training and that the player was training well.
Drogba´s contract finishes with Chelsea in the summer of 2010.
So, press stirring it as usual and there’s nothing in it? Mourinho and Moratti are lying and do want to sign him? Or the player´s agent trying to nudge Chelsea into negotiating a new contract for Drogba?
The Chelsea forward's future has been in some doubt after he reportedly held discussions with executives from the Italian club in London last week. The Ivory Coast international was reported to have met with Marco Branca, the technical director of Inter, and Jorge Mendes, the agent of their manager, Jose Mourinho, at a restaurant in Fulham.
However, Thierno Seydi, Drogba's agent, insists there is no truth in the story.
"Officially, and I say this with the utmost firmness, Didier has never met up with anyone from Inter," Seydi said. "It's disrespectful to say this. His priority is to give his all for Chelsea. He is in that mindset and he's not unhappy at all.
Injury has restricted Drogba to sporadic first-team appearances and, in his absence, Nicolas Anelka has become the Premier League's top scorer, but his agent claims there is no tension between the pair.
"On the contrary, he is very happy for Nico," Seydi said. "He's not jealous at all. He appreciates him a lot and really likes playing with him in attack. Didier simply needs a bit of time to come back. He has never been injured like this in his career."
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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.