Jose Mourinho claims there is ‘no room’ for Axel Witsel in his Chelsea squad, amid speculation linking the Premier League champions with a move for the Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder.
The Premier League champions currently have a packed midfield following the promotion of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and any Witsel arrival would likely mean one of the current players would have to move on.
“At this moment we have [Nemanja] Matic, Ramires, Cesc [Fabregas], [John Obi] Mikel, [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek and Oscar. Six midfield players, I have no extra space,” he said.
Mourinho’s statement would seemingly contradict comments made by Witsel’s representatives who claimed earlier this week that Chelsea had already made contact regarding the potential deal.
“The player wants to play in the Champions League,” Witsel’s agent Francesco Ligenti is quoted as saying in the Metro.
“Chelsea? Here there have been some contacts, we will see if it happens.”
Last season in the Europa League, only Torino’s Pontus Jansson (96.6%) had a higher pass completion rate than Witsel (95%).
For more stats on Alex Witsel, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
