Chelsea Transfer News: Jose Mourinho Addresses Mohamed Salah Exit Rumours

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has dismissed any possibility of Mohamed Salah leaving Chelsea this month amid a raft of interest in his loan capture.

The Blues boss expects the Egyptian international to remain at the club, who will look to reject the advances of Roma, Inter and Besiktas. Mourinho is quoted by Tom Dutton of the London Evening Standard as saying:

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He can't leave, I have 20 players today with Didier [Drogba] a bit ill and [Cesar] Azpilicueta injured. I had all my players here today, just [Nathan] Ake in the stands.

I have a very short squad, I need everybody. For Salah to leave someone has to come, and I don't think we are going to let Salah go on loan and then spend some money to bring somebody else in.

So I don't think so, unless my club comes to me and says Salah goes on loan and we are going to buy a £50 million player.

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It isn't any reason for those in west London to burgeon in excitement at the prospect of a new big-money arrival, though, as Salah will almost certainly remain at the club for the remainder of the campaign.

These comments come in light of quotes from the winger's agent, per Eurosport, which claimed the player was close to a temporary departure:

That would suggest Salah—or at least his representatives—are considering a west London exit, having made just 13 Premier League appearances since arriving at Chelsea one year ago, only six of which have been starts.

David Amoyal of GianlucaDiMarzio.com went on to quote Roma director Walter Sabatini as being hopeful in cutting a deal for Salah:

It's true that after an extremely fortunate first half to the campaign, Chelsea are now beginning to suffer the same sort of depth issues as their Premier League rivals.

As such, it's understandable that Mourinho should not wish to see any players under his command leave for pastures new, irrespective of just how essential—or not, in Salah's case—they might be seen to the cause.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

However, given the club's trend of spending, major investment can never be ruled out at Stamford Bridge as long as the club doesn't tread past the regulations of Financial Fair Play.

Bleacher Report's Alex Dimond recently looked at the Blues' chances of signing some of their more recently alleged targets, one of whom is Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus:

As the season progresses, Salah will hope he can have more of an impact under Mourinho, but with the likes of Eden Hazard, Willian and Andre Schurrle all above him in the pecking order, things don't look promising.

It may be that the 22-year-old attacker is forced to eventually leave the club in order to hit the heights once enjoyed at Basel, but it doesn't seem likely that move away will come this winter.