Rough Guide to Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho's January Transfer History
By Garry Hayes ,
With the January transfer window set to open in just over a week's time, rumors are rife that Chelsea will be among the clubs looking to do business.
Not so, says manager Jose Mourinho.
"I am not waiting for players, I am not asking for players," he said earlier this month, as per The Independent. "This is a period for the club and this is a period of my team where we have to try and improve the players we have and try to build a future."
It's a line Mourinho has continued to push, although stories linking Chelsea with the likes of Fredy Guarin of Inter Milan, as per The Guardian, Monaco's Radamel Falcao, as per The Mirror, and a host of other top stars continue to make headlines.
Should we believe the Chelsea manager when he reveals his intentions for January, or is he simply trying to deflect attention from the business he hopes to complete?
If his business from previous winter transfer windows is anything to go by, it's probably the former with Mourinho tending not to be one for bringing in new faces midseason.
In fact, you could almost count his January signings on one hand from his time spent with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Looking a bit closer, Bleacher Report breaks down Mourinho's previous winter-window deals.
Jose Mourinho spent two seasons as Porto manager from 2002 to 2004. In that time, he made the Portuguese giants European champions and also raised the UEFA Cup and domestic league titles.
He did it with a team of players who would become stars of the European game under his guidance.
The likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha and Maniche were relatively unknown before Mourinho's stint at the club, but soon after they were names on the lips of every fan of European football.
Indeed, Mourinho took Carvalho and Ferreira with him when he joined Chelsea as manager in 2004.
He wasn't so busy in the transfer market with Porto, however. Especially in the winter window.
In January 2003, Mourinho didn't sign a single player for Porto, although 12 months later, he was a little busier, signing strikers Carlos Alberto and Maciel.
January 2003
No transfers
January 2004
Carlos Alberto (from Fluminense)
Maciel (from Leiria)
With the billions of Roman Abramovich at his disposal when he joined Chelsea in 2004, Jose Mourinho was allowed to be more proactive in the transfer market than he had been with his previous employers in Porto.
He was able to bring expensive recruits such as Didier Drogba for a reported £24 million from Marseille, alongside his former Porto defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira.
Mourinho's spending continued in his latter years with the club, too, with Shaun Wright-Phillips being a £21 million recruit from Manchester City, while AC Milan legend Andriy Shevchenko joined the Blues for £30 million in 2006.
When it came to winter deals, however, Mourinho remained cold, with a total of two players either arriving or leaving Chelsea in January.
January 2005
Marco Ambrosio (to Salernitana): Free
Jiri Jarosik (from CSKA Moscow): £3 million
January 2006
No transfers
January 2007
No transfers
Having departed Chelsea in September 2007, it was almost a year before Jose Mourinho was back in work.
This time he moved to Italy, taking over at Inter Milan with the instruction to continue their spell of domestic dominance and to also lift the Champions League.
Signing the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto'o and Thiago Motta helped him do that, with the Nerazzurri lifting the Serie A title twice, with the Champions League in 2010.
But yet again, Mourinho's winter transfer dealings remained relatively quiet, with his only business of note involving the departure of a high-profile name.
January 2009
No transfers
January 2010
Patrick Vieira (to Manchester City): Free
Madrid was the final stop for Jose Mourinho before he returned to Chelsea last summer for a second spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Taking over the reins of Real Madrid, the Portuguese was again in a position to spend lavishly.
He brought in Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and again Ricardo Carvalho—all in his first summer as boss.
Other big names that followed were Fabio Coentrao, Nuri Sahin and Luka Modric.
As ever where Mourinho is concerned, these were all summer transfers, with little business done midseason in the winter window.
January 2011
Mahamadou Diarra (to Monaco)
January 2012
No transfers
January 2013
Diego Lopez (from Sevilla): £3 million
All stats and transfers taken from SoccerBase.com.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout the 2013-14 season. Follow him on Twitter here @garryhayes.
