Upon his return to Chelsea, Jose Mourinho recognised he had inherited a young, talented but unbalanced squad. Signing Willian from under the noses of Tottenham is undoubtedly a coup, but it remains to be seen whether he was the right signing at a time when owner Roman Abramovich is tightening the purse strings to adhere to Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations. For although the acquisition of the player bolsters the squad, Mourinho is now faced with a conundrum.
It will be fascinating to see how the 50-year-old accommodates all of his attacking midfielders. Oscar, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Marco van Ginkel, Willian, Frank Lampard and Kevin de Bruyne will all be competing for a place on the team sheet. As a manager, Mourinho has always preferred to work with small squads and it will be intriguing to see how he approaches this embarrassment of riches.
During his previous tenure at Stamford Bridge, the Portuguese launched a thinly veiled criticism of the club’s failure to fund new signings by complaining about the quality of the eggs at his disposal as he attempted to make an omelette. Now he has more eggs than one basket can carry. Nevertheless, the squad remains light on strikers and he may feel he is without the frying pan he needs to cook up the treat the fans expect.
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