Mourinho effect makes Chelsea odds on for success

It is no secret to Chelsea fans just what a huge effect Jose Mourinho can have when he takes control of a football club. The special one came to Stamford Bridge back in 2004 and brought immediate success with him, claiming Chelsea’s first top flight title in 50 years, so it is no surprise that the bookies have shortened the odds on the Blues winning back the Premier League title considerably this season.

Despite Chelsea slipping out of contention in recent seasons, with the Manchester clubs United and City dominating the league, the best value with paddypower.com gives you odds of just 23/10 on Jose guiding us back to the very top of English football again this season. That is exactly the same as the current champions Man Utd and just below City. The fact that City have already splurged £100 million in the transfer window this summer is the main reason for them being slight favourites, but there is uncertainty over their new boss Manuel Pellegrini.

As Petr Cech was quick to point out to Sky Sports, Mourinho is as hungry as ever for success, and there is still time for Chelsea to sign a few more top players before the season starts. Jose stated that Wayne Rooney was his only transfer target, but don’t be so sure. You wouldn’t really expect him to show all his cards would you?

The only reason he was so upfront about Rooney, in my opinion, was to leave the England international in no doubt that he would be better off coming to Stamford Bridge. Although the new United manager David Moyes is insisting that he will keep the striker, it is unlikely that the club will want to keep paying his wages of around £250,000 a week when they know he doesn’t really want to be there and so will probably not be at his best. Of course, United will be very reluctant to sell Rooney to Chelsea, because they know that we will be huge rivals for the title this season.

There is nothing they can do about Mourinho, though. I can almost taste that Premier League title already.