Mourinho Responds To Reports Linking Him With Moves For Martinez & Coentrao

Although the summer transfer window is officially closed that doesn’t stop clubs working hard behind the scenes to prepare for future signings, so we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the latest gossip. Today, Jose Mourinho responds to reports linking him with moves for Fabio Coentrao and Jackson Martinez.

Jose Mourinho has dismissed reports linking him with moves for Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao and Porto striker Jackson Martinez by insisting he’s not looking to buy the pair in January.

Reports in Friday morning’s Daily Mail claimed that Mourinho was keen on raiding his former club to bring left-back Coentrao in on-loan for the second half of the season due to concerns over the long-term fitness of Ashley Cole.

Cole has only started six games for club and country since picking up a rib injury back in September and Cesar Azpilicueta has been deployed at left-back in recent weeks, leading to speculation Mourinho could be looking to bring in another defender this winter with Coentrao apparently on his radar.

However, when asked about the reports linking him with the Portuguese international at his press conference today ahead of Sunday’s clash with Southampton, the Chelsea boss was adamant he didn’t need the 25-year-old’s services.

”No. No. I don’t want Portuguese players. I always had them but, at this moment, it’s enough.

”I don’t have them now. Only Hilario, the remaining one. But we don’t need. We don’t need.” [source: Mirror]

Mourinho has also been linked with a big-money move for Porto striker Jackson Martinez with reports on Thursday claiming that the players agent had been in London this week to hold talks with Blues officials over a potential switch to Stamford Bridge.

However, once again Mourinho dismissed these reports and insists he will not be in the market for a striker in January, and will continue until the end of the season with the forwards currently at his disposal.

When asked about links with Jackson Martinez, Mourinho said:

“It’s not true what I read a couple of days ago, that the agent [of Martinez] was in London meeting with me or with Chelsea directors.

It’s not true at all. In the January market we’re not going to buy any striker, so we will go through to the end of the season with Fernando, Samuel and Demba. Nobody goes in. Nobody goes out,” [source: ESPN]

Chelsea’s current crop of strikers have struggled this season, so you wouldn’t blame Mourinho if he was looking to bring in another option up front. Fernando Torres was showing signs of getting back to his best before being sidelined by a knee injury, Samuel Eto’o has struggled to make a real impact since joining the club in the summer and has been ruled out for two to three weeks with a muscle injury, while Demba Ba has fallen out-of-favour and has failed to score a single Premier League goals this season.

But judging by his comments today, it seems Jose is confident his trio will be good enough to see them through the current campaign. However, I don’t think this will stop the press from speculating as we approach the opening of the winter transfer window.

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