Blues Boss José Mourinho has indicated that Chelsea will spend heavily in the summer to lure new striker and will not have to sell key players such as the likes of Eden Hazard to fund the transfer.
Introduction of financial fair play rules means Chelsea do not intend to splurge as freely as they did earlier during Roman Abramovich regime but when asked if the club would be able to pull out up to £50m this summer on a new player, Mourinho replied: "Yes, I think Chelsea can do that. I think Chelsea can't do that with four or five players and spend £200 or £250m but Chelsea can do that with just a player."
He Mourinho denied that three defeats in Chelsea's past five matches have convinced him to plot a major overhaul of his squad but admitted that "a couple" of new players will be recruited, with one likely to be a centre-forward. Mourinho claims that it does not necessarily mean the end of Fernando Torres's career at Stamford Bridge but his reassurance for the striker had a hollow ring to it.
"He's a good professional footballer, he tries his best," Added Mourinho of the player who has scored four Premier League goals this season and seldom looked like the striker Chelsea thought they were getting when they paid £50m to sign him from Liverpool in 2011. "Someone that gives everything they have you can never blame and you cannot complain. He's a good professional in training and in his social life. When he's on the pitch he tries to do his best.
"Torres is a player with a certain profile and will always be the player with that profile. It's not at that age of 30 that he's going to add new qualities to the qualities he already has. That's why I say he gives what he can, we respect that, and that's why he keeps playing and we keep trusting him and we believe he still has things to give to the team. Does he have a future here? Yes, he has. He has a contract, he is a good professional and he works hard for the team. certainly we want him to bang goals and obviously he wants to bang goals also. During his period in the club he has had moments, some of them important. Stability in his performances he's not having a lot."
With the likes of Samuel Eto'o still suffering hamstring trouble, Fernando or Demba Ba are likely to feature against Stoke City in the late kick-off on Saturday as Chelsea attempt to get their Premier League title challenge back on the track. The Portuguese denied that he made mistakes in not ensuring that Chelsea had better striking options available to them after failing to bring Wayne Rooney from Manchester United last summer. But indicated that the club are ready to boost their firepower in the summer.
"It was an odd market [last summer] and in the winter market we made collective decisions of not bringing in a new striker and giving all the trust to the strikers we have and not making a decision under pressure. We wanted a season to see, analyze and to choose well, to make some contacts and go step-by-step."
Mourinho still believes the current campaign could end in glory. After insisting his team were underdogs in the Premier League title race when they were top of the table, he now says they can leapfrog Liverpool at the summit and also stage a comeback in the Champions League, where they go into Tuesday's second leg 3-1 down to Paris Saint-Germain. "The Champions League is not over. Far from it. If a player doesn't believe that it's not over, he should stay at home. If any supporter thinks it's not possible, it's better to stay at home and watch Dortmund against Real Madrid on TV. And in relation to the Premier League, we have six matches to play and the moment we don't want to give everything and win all of those matches, we are not good professionals, which is something I don't accept somebody saying about me or my players. So lets go for it."
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