Chelsea Concede Defeat In Rooney Chase

Despite claiming that Wayne Rooney is the only player he wants this summer, could Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho be about to throw the towel in and give up on the Manchester United striker.

Last month Mourinho asserted that he wanted Rooney to join him at Stamford Bridge after coy attempts to woo the striker and declared that the 27 year old would be his only target. But two failed bids later things are looking bleak for the West London, despite Rooney clearly wanting away from Old Trafford.

Manchester United manager David Moyes has dug his heels in and refuses to negotiate with Chelsea, defiant of Rooney’s wishes and despite Rooney failing to appear for United all summer amidst fake injury claims it appears Moyes will get his way.

Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail wrote this morning:

‘Interesting shift in approach from Manchester United in the new era post Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill. Just been told, for example, that executives from Old Trafford were telling anyone who asked – and there were quite a few – in the posh seats at Wembley yesterday that Wayne Rooney would definitely not be sold to Chelsea.

”You expect United to say nothing on these things,’ said one source from the Wembley executive lounges. ‘But it was quite clear yesterday that they want everyone to hear their message. It looks like Rooney is going nowhere.”

And it appears United’s stance has forced Chelsea to look elsewhere, namely in the direction of former Mourinho player Samuel Eto’o.

The Cameroonian is available after Anzhi Makhachkala opted to sack newly appointed manager Rene Meulensteen and place the whole team up for transfer in an effort to slash their wage bill.

The Mirror report that Chelsea are open to the idea of signing the 3 time European Cup winner and he himself has issued a come and get me plea to his former manager:

“There is only one Jose Mourinho.

“I have played under a lot of great coaches – but there is no other character in the game like Jose.

“He is one of the best coaches in the world – and we had a lot of success together at Inter Milan. I would like to have the chance to play under him again – because it is never boring when Jose is around.”

So are Chelsea finally accepting the inevitable that they won’t be signing Rooney and looking elsewhere? Or will they remain resolute and continue their pursuit?

With the transfer window closing soon this is a game of chicken Mourinho won’t want to last too long as it will leave his team sans a striker, the position that he identified as an area to strengthen.