Jose Mourinho is ready to capitalise on Chelsea’s financial plight by raiding his former club for a second successive summer.
The Portuguese tactician moved to sign Tammy Abraham in a £34million deal last summer from the club where he won three Premier League titles across two spells. And now, Mourinho is ready to pile on the misery by swooping for one of the club’s forgotten stars, Charly Musonda Jr.
The Belgian attacker has recently recovered from a serious knee injury sustained back in 2018 which hampered his development at Stamford Bridge. The 25-year-old is out of contract this summer and it seems likely he will depart due to the west London club’s inability to push through new deals.
Chelsea are prohibited from making income and limited to spending their monthly budget after owner Roman Abramovich was hit by sanctions from the UK government. The club are in the midst of discussing takeover bids with a new owner set to take the reins from Russian billionaire Abramovich in the coming weeks.
But there is no guarantee that Chelsea will be able to renew the deal of every out-of-contract player this summer. And that could allow the Giallorossi to snatch away another star graduate from the Cobham academy, according to Goal.
Musonda, who has been with the club since signing from Anderlecht in 2011, has been training with the development squad as he rebuilds his fitness. But the winger recently hit out at his lack of support from the club during his time on the sidelines — and even suggested he would play for free.
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Mourinho will be hoping Musonda can resurrect his career like Abraham has after the 24-year-old broke a club record record in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Lazio in the Derby della Capitale. The striker has now scored 23 goals in 40 appearances, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta’s haul of 21 to set a new benchmark for most goals in a debut season.
The Roma boss basked in the glory of watching his side dismantle their city rivals with Abraham hitting a superb brace. The former Blues striker earned the plaudits from the adoring Roma crowd, who chanted his name in unison after opening the scoring in the first minute of play.
Abraham was first to react when Lorenzo Pellegrini’s corner delivery came back off the upright and he tucked away the rebound, making him the first English player to score in the Derby della Capitale since Paul Gascoigne. He doubled his tally midway through the first half, volleying home from Rick Karsdorp’s cross to make it 2-0.
Pellegrini wrapped up the victory in style with a sumptuous free-kick from 25 yards as Mourinho taunted his rivals, managed by fellow ex-Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri, at the final whistle. The victory has allowed Roma to climb above Lazio into sixth in the race for European qualification with nine games remaining.
He may not be the only Chelsea star playing in Italy before too long, with Conor Gallagher reportedly on the radar of Juventus. The 21-year-old has been one of the best performers in the top flight this season since joining the Eagles on a season-long loan and made his debut for England in November.
Reports in Italy suggest scouts from the Serie A giants were in attendance to watch him help Palace beat Everton on Sunday. However, Chelsea will be reluctant to let Gallagher go, with Thomas Tuchel counting on the highly-rated midfielder for next season.
