Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says the club have a contingency plan if they fail with their bid to sign Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.
United have rejected two bids, the latest £25m plus add-ons, from Chelsea for the England international. Mourinho said in July that Rooney, 27 is his only transfer target, but now says the club have backup options.
“We have plans B and C. Don’t ask me names. It’s difficult to speak about players from other clubs,” he said.
“We have the conditions to try to improve our team by bringing in one more player and we are going to try that till the end.”
Rooney is understood to be intent on leaving Old Trafford, even though United manager David Moyes insists the striker is not for sale. But Mourinho, ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa, admits the club are likely to continue their pursuit of Rooney.
Although the Portuguese accepts United are under no obligation to sell Rooney just as Chelsea rebuffed Barcelona’s attempts to sign David Luiz.
“You try, because nobody forbids you to try,” Mourinho said. “When you think that you’d like to have one player and the market is open and the official bids are not forbidden, official bids are always accepted in an ethical way. Of course, the player’s owners can do exactly what we did in relation to David Luiz and Barcelona.”
Mourinho also says that he will pick and choose which games to use midfielder Frank Lampard in this season. Lampard, 35, signed a one-year contract earlier in the summer despite some uncertainty over his future. “He is not 25 anymore,” the Chelsea manager added.
“The crazy Lamps that wants to play every minute of a Carling Cup match against a team from the Championship, the crazy Frank that wants to play and beat the record of appearances and play every minute every match, is not here anymore. “Now it’s about keeping his performance high for the most time we can, for the most seasons we can.”
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