Mourinho considers Diego Costa gamble for Bridge battle
Costa suffered a recurrence of his hamstring problem in last month’s 3-2 win at Hull and withdrew from international duty with Spain.
Chelsea’s top scorer will be in the squad for the Stamford Bridge fixture, but may not start.
Mourinho said: “Diego trained (on Thursday and Friday) with the group. He’s not injured. I don’t know if I start with him or not.
“We did all the tests and the scans to confirm two days ago scientifically the situation and in this moment the muscle is fine.
“But football is more than that. You need confidence. You don’t need to break your intensity. That’s our doubt. Let’s see next 24 hours.”
Asked the long-term solution to Costa’s recurring problems, Mourinho insisted an operation would be undertaken only if there was no alternative.
Mourinho added: “I don’t believe we will ever go in the surgery direction. (The solution) is to work the way he does all the season in prevention, in making the muscle stronger and at the same time elastic and flexible. Recover well – not a big accumulation of fatigue – and this is what we can do.” Chelsea have one game a week for the season run-in, apart from when they meet Leicester in midweek later this month in a match rearranged due to the Capital One Cup final. “It’s better,” Mourinho said. “Playing one match every weekend, normally he should be fine.”
Mourinho believes “every player has a price” and he would sell an unhappy squad member. Mourinho used Chelsea forward Eden Hazard, who recently signed a new contract until 2020, as a hypothetical example when Raheem Sterling’s situation at Liverpool came up on Friday.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers this week insisted Sterling was not for sale after talks over the England forward’s contract reached an impasse.
Mourinho understands the approach of Rodgers and Liverpool, but would treat the situation differently, just as he did when Zlatan Ibrahimovic wanted to leave Inter Milan for Barcelona.
“I don’t like players that don’t want to play for me and my club, clearly,” said Mourinho, speaking ahead of the clash with Stoke.
“Every player has a price. It doesn’t matter which player.
“For example, Eden Hazard; we can speak about him because he’s signed a new contract. Do I want him to leave Chelsea? No. If he wants to leave, if he doesn’t want to work with me, if he doesn’t want to play for Chelsea, does Eden Hazard have a price? I think he has a price.
“He’s the best player in the Premier League, so I go to the best as an example.”
“Either way when a player has a contract with a club, the club, the manager and the board have the power to decide what to do. The club that sells is in control.”
Meanwhile Stoke boss Mark Hughes is in no doubt it is high time the club brought their run of fruitless trips to Stamford Bridge to an end.
It is not since a 1-1 draw between the two sides in 1984 that Stoke have claimed a point there.
Former Chelsea striker Hughes said: “It’s not easy. Our record there hasn’t been great – but that could be said of most clubs in the Premier League recently.
“I’m told that the last time we got a positive result there (in the league) was 1984 and my first-team coach (Eddie Niedzwiecki) was in goal for Chelsea.
“It has been a long time and we need to address that.”
Stoke’s Irish forward Jonathan Walters is expected to shake off a calf knock but the Potters will be without Victor Moses as Chelsea is the on-loan winger’s parent club.
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