Chelsea Transfer News: Victor Valdes Rumours Emerge, Latest on Jose Mourinho

Chelsea could move to sign Victor Valdes from Manchester United in January, with first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois facing months on the sideline.

According to calciomercato.com (h/t SPORT) the Blues are keen on a deal for the former Barcelona stopper, who could potentially link up with former Blaugrana team-mates Pedro and Cesc Fabregas at Stamford Bridge. Sevilla are also said to be interested in Valdes.

Here’s a reminder of what the Spanish international, who has been marginalised at Old Trafford, is capable of at his very best:

Since suffering a horrific knee ligament injury in early 2014, they’re standards we’ve not seen Valdes set for a while. After leaving Barcelona he joined United as a deputy to David De Gea, but has fallen out of favour with manager Louis van Gaal and not been included in the club’s Champions League squad.

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When you consider just how much experience Valdes has in European football’s top-tier competition, it seems a major waste of talent for the goalkeeper to be sitting in the stands every week, per WhoScored.com:

At Chelsea he could potentially be a tremendous short-term fix. As noted by SPORT, Courtois is set for a long spell on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury. While Asmir Begovic is a fine understudy to the immaculate Belgian, he’s not of the world-class standards which have previously been set by Courtois and before him, Petr Cech.

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But Valdes needs games. When the January window does come around it’ll have been almost two years since the ex-Barcelona man enjoyed regular first-team football. A move to Chelsea could temporarily give Valdes the minutes he craves, but once Courtois is at full tilt again, he’d find himself in a similar situation to the current one at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho Drops Arsenal Hint

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It’s tough to imagine Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho at the helm of any other team, perhaps Arsenal more than any other. But the divisive Portuguese has insisted that he’ll be remaining in London when he does eventually leave the Blues and that he’d be looking to manage a team from the city.

“There are a number of other opportunities for a manager in London,” Mourinho said to Arsenal fan Piers Morgan, who has been writing a diary for the GQ Man of the Year awards, per the Daily Mail (h/t Liam Corless of the Daily Mirror) "Fulham, QPR, West Ham, Spurs, the England national team... and Arsenal.”

The Chelsea boss also ruled out taking over a team who weren’t in the Champions League. “We are left with two options, yes?” Mourinho continued. “Arsenal and the England national team.”

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The Blues man has had plenty of run-ins with current Gunners boss Arsene Wenger down the years, famously claiming that the Frenchman was a “specialist in failure” last year, per BBC Sport. So it’d be intriguing to see how the Arsenal supporters would take to a man who has been a bitter longstanding rival.

After managing across Europe, it seems as though Mourinho has finally found his home in the English capital. Chelsea supporters will be hoping he remains in situ for a while yet despite the team’s current troubles and the Portuguese’s impeccable managerial record implies that he will go on and enjoy more success with the Blues.

Arsenal and Mourinho don’t seem to be an ideal fit, though. The Gunners have become a team who are all about aesthetic, attacking football, while the Chelsea manager is a major pragmatist and an instinctively defensive coach. The England national-team job certainly looks a more likely proposition as things currently stand.