James Olley: Roman Abramovich and Jose Mourinho's relationship could come under strain this summer

 
Test: Mourinho is likely to want to bolster his squad after a trophyless season
James Olley7 May 2014

The true test of Jose Mourinho’s complicated relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich begins now.

Mourinho’s recent conversion to advocating UEFA’s Financial Fair Play, assuming the moral high ground despite previously being at the helm of a club that avariciously accelerated spending in a way the Premier League had never seen before, is surely one taken under duress.

Since that first spell under Mourinho between 2004-07, Chelsea have made a concerted, if essentially unsuccessful, effort to balance the books. Former chief executive Peter Kenyon spoke in December 2008 of the Blues breaking even by the 2010-11 season. It never happened.

Only by winning the Champions League and the FA Cup in 2012 were the club able to post their first profitable year since Abramovich took over in 2003, confirming a £1.4million return; in December last year, they returned to form, confirming a £49.4m loss for the year ending 30 June 2013.

But they are committed to the process now and so this is a different animal to the one Mourinho began to nurture a decade ago. One facet of the conditions for the Portuguese’s return was surely that he acquiesced to this financially prudent approach during his second coming.

Mourinho craves control and it will not come easily to him if his transfer targets are not insatiably pursued by those charged with such responsibility. This is the “challenge” Mourinho refers to when insisting he rejected other jobs, claiming: “I had chances to have easy fairytales if I wanted to win leagues.”

He defines that challenge as a club with theoretically unlimited resources trying to win on a budget as opposed to one constructed from an unrestricted wish list.

As trophies have gradually slipped from Chelsea’s grasp, the discomfort Mourinho feels within this model has become clear. The tetchy press conferences, the public castigation of his strikers, the depiction of Chelsea as a “little horse” and the constant denigration of their title challenge all fit Mourinho’s narrative that he feels he is being asked to compete with one arm voluntarily tied behind his back.

Mourinho continues to express his undying love for Chelsea but he has become the fourth manager not to win a trophy under Abramovich and the previous three were all sacked. He is acutely aware of the importance this summer has in shaping the club’s future. Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard face uncertain futures with their high wages offsetting loyalty prompted by years of dedicated service. Fernando Torres, the fallen forward adored by Abramovich whose indifferent form has been the undoing of previous managers, must surely be jettisoned (along with his fellow forwards) but for a fraction of the £50m paid to Liverpool three years ago.

The issue of succession from established goalkeeper Petr Cech to the undeniable potential of Thibaut Courtois must be addressed.

A top-class striker — perhaps even two — is required and they don’t come cheap. Key decisions need to be made and it is here where Mourinho and Abramovich came unstuck before. Is he really the Humble One when the chips are down? There are plenty who have their doubts. The promotion of Marina Granovskaia to the club’s board as a director, having spent 16 years as Abramovich’s de facto chief of staff, adds an intriguing element to the balance between decision-making from a business and a football perspective.

In certain instances, their mutually exclusive reasoning can align; Mourinho sold Juan Mata to Manchester United and Kevin de Bruyne to Wolfsburg for sporting reasons but the £54.1m recouped made excellent financial sense and helped fund the purchases of Nemanja Matic, Kurt Zouma and Mohamed Salah.

But Mourinho rued the club’s failure to land Wayne Rooney or a striker of similar stature last summer and his self-made excuse that Chelsea are in transition will not endure for long. Will he really buy into the club’s frugality if results and his reputation suffer?

Mourinho grew irritated by the arrivals of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko without his consent and old wounds could open if his preferred players are overlooked or the club refuse to shop at the expensive end of the market (Incidentally, you can understand why Abramovich could also be reluctant to give Mourinho a penny to spend having already made him the thick end of £18m richer under the compensation terms of his sacking seven years ago).

Mourinho hates to lose. He is used to getting his way. But so is Abramovich. Seconds out, round two?

Simon Johnson on how Jose Mourinho will overhaul his team this summer

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Martinez has little incentive to join Spurs

It surely remains against the balance of probabilities that Roberto Martinez would trade one Champions League-chasing club for another by jumping ship from Everton to Tottenham.

Martinez has enjoyed a fine first season at Goodison Park and will no doubt seek financial backing in the summer to supplement his quest to break into the top four after a club-record points haul in his debut year.

Everton remain restricted in their ability to compete for players and the departure of several loanees will make life difficult but recent data suggests that while Spurs have a much higher turnover in terms of transfers, the difference in net spend would surely not be large enough for Martinez to feel he would be making a huge step up.

Transferleague.co.uk says Spurs have the 17th smallest net spend over the last five years of the current 20 Premier League clubs, standing at just £770,000 per season; they have invested £310.9m and recouped £307m.

Everton are below Spurs in the table (so are Arsenal), lying in 19th having spent just £63.5m and earned £75.8m with a net spend of minus £2.46m per season.

Throw in the need to work under an actively involved chairman and a director of football and it is easy to see why Martinez could feel he is better off staying put.

Redknapp future uncertain

There is a sense that Harry Redknapp’s future at Queens Park Rangers is uncertain regardless of whether they win promotion via the play-offs.

They begin their two-legged play‑off semi-final at Wigan on Friday with many of the club’s fans questioning Redknapp as a result of their form over the second half of the season — they finished 22 points behind champions Leicester and 13 adrift of second-placed Burnley.

Redknapp has been readily supported by the club’s hierarchy, who are desperate to return to the Premier League as they target club expansion including the development of a new stadium, but supporters have criticised his team selection and tactics.

Promotion would heal most wounds and Redknapp’s top-flight experience would prove useful but, aged 67, rumours persist that QPR could look elsewhere for a younger manager to shape a more streamline squad next season.

At least the play-offs offer one last chance for Redknapp to prove his worth.

Time for Fulham to promote youth

There may be a long shadow cast over Fulham at present but the future could still be bright. For while the club begin preparing for life in the Championship, there must be some solace in their advance to the FA Youth Cup Final.

Despite the 7-6 aggregate defeat by Chelsea, Fulham’s youngsters offer plenty of hope for the club.

This column has consistently argued that Fulham’s fine academy set-up has not been used sufficiently by a succession of managers and Felix Magath should begin a new era with some internal promotion.

Mind you, the same could be said of Chelsea, whose victory in the competition on Monday night, allied to a possible Under-21 Premier League success, should be the catalyst in changing their own dismal record of bringing through youngsters.

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