London, Aug 27 (IANS) Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has given England striker Wayne Rooney 48 hours to make up his mind to leave Manchester United or forget playing at Stamford Bridge.
After claiming last week that Chelsea would lodge a third bid for Rooney, Mourinho said that he will now look elsewhere for a new striker if the Rooney fails to “encourage Chelsea to make a move within the next 48 hours”.
“We are going to close (to signing) another player if he is not coming. If he is not coming, I want to close another player. How long will we wait? 24, 48 hours,” Mourinho was quoted as saying in th English media.
Asked if Chelsea still wants to lodge a third bid for Rooney, Mourinho added: “We have to speak, but I think this club (United) must be a very special club. In every club in the world, when a player wants to leave, they don’t support him. When a player wants to leave, they give him a hard time, but they have supported him all the way, so I think this must be a very special club, with special fans. I think probably now, he decides that he wants to stay. If he makes that decision, we will be the first to respect that.”
Anzhi Makhachkala forward Samuel Eto’o expected to arrive at Stamford Bridge if Rooney remains at Old Trafford.
“The person that starts the story has to finish the story,” Mourinho said. “A club like us, a manager like me, and people who work with me, we are not silly to try to get a player from a big club, a club that don’t want to sell.
“We are not silly to try something if somebody didn’t start (it). It’s time for the good of everyone to finish the story, to one side or the other,” he said.
Askedwho had told Chelsea to move for Rooney, Mourinho said: “He (Rooney) told someone that it is very important in his career. If now he doesn’t want to leave, we are out of the thing. But we need to know, we need to know what is happening.”
