• Premier League

Chelsea to delay new bid for Wayne Rooney

ESPN staff
August 22, 2013
Wayne Rooney will be the main talking point in the clash against Chelsea © PA Photos
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Chelsea will make a third attempt to sign Wayne Rooney from Manchester United, but manager Jose Mourinho wants a bid to be submitted until after they have played at Old Trafford next Monday.

Mourinho has said Rooney is his number one transfer target this summer, but two offers for the England striker have been rejected by the Premier League champions.

"I don't want Chelsea to do it [table a bid] before we go there,'' Mourinho said after watching his side beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

"Everybody in the club, in the board, they agree with me. They share that opinion. I think this period, by the ethical point of view, is a period where we're going to be quiet.''

Chelsea have until the close of the window on September 2 to table another bid - and Mourinho remains determined to land Rooney.

But he has alternative targets should those efforts fail, with Anzhi Makhachkala striker Samuel Eto'o reportedly on his radar. Speaking prior to the Villa clash, he had said: "We have plans B and C. Don't ask me names, because it's difficult to speak about players from other clubs."

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