Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho welcomes Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Douglas Costa's interest
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has welcomed Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Douglas Costa's interest in moving to Stamford Bridge.
The 24-year-old said the chance to play for the Premier League leaders would be a "dream" and reveals he would attempt to force through a move to the Blues in the near future.
Costa played an influential role in helping Shakhtar qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as they waltzed through their group and Mourinho has responded positively to the Brazil international's plea.
"I am always happy when a player tells us that he would like to play for my club," Mourinho said.
"I am always happy so the reaction for Douglas Costa is the reaction of being happy with his comments and every Douglas Costa in the world that would like to play for Chelsea these kind of feelings are always welcome."
Though Costa has reportedly been the subject of a £16m offer from Chelsea, the futures of Andre Schurrle and Mohamed Salah are of a more immediate concern for Mourinho with less than a fortnight remaining of the January transfer window.
Both players, who have played peripheral roles this season, have been linked with moves away from the west London club and Mourinho says he has no desire to allow either to leave.
The Chelsea manager, who sanctioned Juan Mata and Kevin de Bruyne's departures to Manchester United and Wolfsburg respectively 12 months ago, says he also does not expect a situation whereby any player demands to be sold.
"The process has to be different," he explained. "I think first of all what has to arrive at the club is a great proposal for the player to have the right to say I want to go, that is a consequence of this fantastic offer on the table.
"And then the club [Chelsea] comes to me and tells me of this offer on the table which is very good for the club in financial terms and after that we try to do with it, not the other way around.
"I don't know [if any players will leave]," he added. "In this moment, no. I go day by day, match by match and in this moment every player is available. We don't have offers on the table to make us think that this player is leaving tomorrow before the game."
Cup ties before title decider face-off
Mourinho has confirmed he will rest a number of first-team players for the visit of League Two side Bradford City in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday 25 January, with Petr Cech, Kurt Zouma, Schurrle, Salah and Loic Remy all set to start.
The tie comes at the start of a week that includes the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Liverpool and the visit of Manchester City on 31 January, as the top two face-off at Stamford Bridge in a potential league title decider.
Despite admitting exits from the two domestic cup competitions and the Champions League would help his side's bid for the Premier League title, the Portuguese boss has repeated the threat he made to his Chelsea players ahead of the tie with Watford in the previous round, that they should be good enough to go through.
"To help the title race, it helps to lose against Bradford and lose against Liverpool and lose against Paris Saint-Germain and only play Premier League until the end of the season," he said.
"That is the perfect situation but not with us, not with our mentality, not with our way of doing our job, not in Chelsea's DNA.
"The other day, the coach of a big team was knocked out of the cup and he was saying good, very good this is perfect for us because now we an focus on the other competitions.
"If I lose against Bradford I don't say that, I say it is a disgrace.
"It is the way you are, the way you think. I prefer it when there are lots of matches and risk of losing everything but I can't choose matches, I can't choose everything.
"I don't know how to face my players or fans by saying this is a competition we don't want to win."
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