Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho claims he chose not to sign Radamel Falcao or Angel di Maria last summer because their huge salaries would’ve ’caused an explosion’ at Chelsea.
The Blues boss, whose agent Jorge Mendes also represents Falcao and Di Maria, says he was offered the chance to bring them to Stamford Bridge before Manchester United agreed deals for the pair.
Falcao moved to Old Trafford on a season-long loan from Monaco, while Di Maria sealed a British record £60million transfer from Real Madrid.
But Mourinho, who insists he didn’t want either player, cited the effect of their wages on his dressing room when explaining why he passed up the opportunity to sign them.
In new book The Key to Mendes, Mourinho said: ‘I can’t have a player earning €10m when others earn three, four or five. That would have caused an explosion.’
Colombia striker Falcao earns £265,000-a-week at Old Trafford, while former Benfica star Di Maria is paid £200,000-a-week.
Mourinho, who has been outspoken about UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules in the past, also believes Chelsea would’ve been unable to finance deals for the South American duo.
‘Jorge [Mendes] told me Di Maria and Falcao are his players and he has to find solutions for them,’ he said.
‘But if Chelsea doesn’t have the financial capacity to pay eight, nine, 10 million euros a year, because of Fair Play, of course Mendes has to think about his players.’
Mourinho spent around £88m on Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Loic Remy last summer, but financed the deals by selling David Luiz to PSG for £50m, Romelu Lukaku to Everton for £28m and Demba Ba to Besiktas for £4.7m.
He added: ‘We couldn’t bring Falcao or Di Maria because I didn’t want to, either.’
Source: Dailymail
