Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were allowed to leave while David Luiz, Romelu Lukaku and Demba Ba were sold. Samuel Eto'o was released, but arriving are Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, Cesc Fabregas and Didier Drogba. Of the movements in and out the team, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told ESPN, "Last season was important for me and for the players, but I think we did a fantastic job in the transfer market. We went exactly to the targets we want to go."
Still, Chelsea could be set to also bid £30m for AS Roma centre-back Mehdi Benatia. Another likely option is Raphael Varane. In a talk with Yahoo, quoted by Sky Sports, Mourinho said of Varane, I think he is the best young central defender in the world. Already I think he's the best. A young player must be somebody who plays in the World Cup for the first time. These are players like Hazard, Neymar and Rafa Varane."
Eden Hazard who was allowed a month's holiday, re-joined his teammates as a second-half substitute in last weekend's 3-0 loss to Werder Bremen. Said he after the game, "I'm happy to be back on the pitch with the team. I tried to give my best, but it was my first minutes and it was difficult. I hope the next game will be better."
As a Chelsea player, Hazard already has 111 games under his belt for the Blues, scoring 30 goals. He was just recently assigned the prestigious No.10 shirt vacated by Juan Mata who was sold to Manchester United. "It is my favourite number and is one I am used to wearing for the national team, as well as the one worn by some of my heroes from when I was a kid, like Zinedine Zidane," he told ESPN.
Telegraph's sports columnist Gary Neville predictss "Chelsea now have the power and strength to win Premier League." Of Mourinho, Neville says, "This year he knows he has to deliver it - and he's a dangerous man. He usually wins when he has to."
