I must do so much Mour
Posted Wednesday, June 19, 2013 by The Sun
FERNANDO TORRES is confident he still has a part to play in Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea plans — but knows he must improve.
The £50million striker also confessed he struggled to deal with the hostility aimed at interim manager Rafa Benitez by supporters last season.
And although he repeated his desire to see out the remaining three years of his Blues contract, he is intrigued by reports of Barcelona’s interest in him.
Torres is in Brazil as part of Spain’s Confederations Cup squad but knows Mourinho has described his Chelsea career as “so-so”.
Britain’s most-expensive footballer declared: “Mourinho is a very demanding coach but he always guarantees success and I have confidence that he has something prepared for me.
“I know he expects much more from me — but I expected more from myself.
“Now I have the added pressure of Mourinho and that’s a challenge for any player.
“So I am looking forward to the conversation with him and discovering what his plans are for me.
“Chelsea is where I am and where I want to be.
“I have three years left on my contract and I hope to meet them.
“I am at a club where I can win titles and want to win the Premier League because that’s a trophy I am missing.”
The former Liverpool striker added: “The end of last season was good for everyone because our results were much better but, even at the end, Benitez did not have it easy.
“There was a very uncomfortable situation because of the fans’ response against him and it affected us all.
“And because I was connected to Benitez through our relationship together at Liverpool, I was dragged into the wave of hostility against him.
“But I think the supporters at Chelsea now have a different opinion of him to when he joined us.”
Torres, 29, is Chelsea’s highest earning player on a whopping £180,000 a week following his record-breaking £50m move from Anfield in January 2011.
But with the club looking to finalise a £50m deal for Napoli striker Edinson Cavani this week, his own future remains up in the air.
Spanish champs Barcelona are keen on getting Torres to the Nou Camp for a cut-price £17m.
Torres admitted: “Barcelona are still the best side in the world but nothing is further from reality that I can just ask to go there.
“I have known the Barca president Sandro Rosell for a long time.
“There is a personal relationship but nothing more than that.
“But I honestly don’t know if they have any interest in me — every summer I live with these rumours.
“In the end, you work where they want you but, right now, my only thoughts are the Confederations Cup.
“Then immediately after that it’s Chelsea to prepare for the coming season.”
Torres could have a new midfielder providing him with ammunition as Chelsea are closing in on a £10m move for Seville’s Geoffrey Kondogbia.
First, though, they must unravel a complicated third-party ownership deal involving the company that have just gone into partnership with David Beckham’s advisor.
Kondogbia, 20, is part-owned by the Doyen Group, a firm of private equity investors who have been snapping up some of Europe’s hottest young talents.
Chelsea would have to reach an agreement with the Malta-based company and with Seville to get their hands on the tough-tackling Frenchman.
Third-party ownership deals are permitted in many European countries but are strictly forbidden by the FA and Premier League.
Kondogbia only joined Seville a year ago from Lens in a deal worth about £2.5m.
The Doyen Group stumped up half of that transfer fee and now stand to make a tidy profit on their investment.
They have just received a huge slice of Radamel Falcao’s £51m move to Monaco after helping to finance the striker’s previous move from Porto to Atletico Madrid.
Doyen also own a piece of another of Mourinho’s summer transfer targets, Atletico defender Eliaquim Mangala.
Two months ago, the Spanish investors behind Doyen teamed up with Beckham’s long-term advisor Simon Oliveira to form Doyen Global.
That company has just struck a deal with Barca’s new superstar signing Neymar over his image-rights deal.
Now the FA will be monitoring any moves for Kondogbia, who is currently in Turkey with France’s Under-20 squad.
The powerful youngster has been compared to former King’s Road favourite Claude Makelele and is seen as a reasonably-priced replacement for John Obi Mikel in the midfield holding role.
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