• Football

Mourinho drops Falcao and Cavani hints

Jose Mourinho has made it clear how desperate he is to sign a new striker and put Radamel Falcao and Edinson Cavani in the Chelsea frame.

The manager has not been happy with the return from his forwards this season, with Samuel Eto'o, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba unconvincing, and has been linked with the most prolific goalscorers in Europe.

Mourinho appears to have inadvertently fanned the speculation when he was filmed talking about Monaco's £50 million frontman Falcao before an interview with French TV.

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"I have a team, but no striker," Canal Plus showed the Chelsea manager saying in a video clip which was later removed from its website.

"Falcao does not have a team. A player like him can't play in front of 3,000 people. Monaco is a club to end [your career with]."

Mourinho is said to be furious about the filming of a conversation he thought was being conducted in private.

It was an embarrassing slip for the usually canny media operator, who then went on to conduct an interview with the TV station, and confirms his determination to sign at least one striker in the summer.

Falcao is recovering from an operation to repair a cruciate ligament after sustaining the injury in January but his surgeon has given him a 50% chance of playing for Colombia at the World Cup.

The striker has also posted a picture of himself with a ball in what looks like a gym, suggesting the injury would not rule out a transfer.

In his broadcast interview, Mourinho also left the door open on a summer transfer bid for PSG's Edinson Cavani despite admitting it would take an extraordinary offer.

But he ruled out the prospect of Eden Hazard becoming part of any Cavani deal and admitted trying to bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Stamford Bridge from the French club would be "mission Impossible".

Mourinho conceded that it would take a huge investment for Chelsea to sign Cavani, who was signed by PSG for £54 million and is said to earn £8.3m annually.

"PSG payed a lot of money for him. His contract is also incredible," Mourinho said of the Uruguayan. "Maybe it's not impossible like Zlatan, because I think that Zlatan is more important to the structure of the club. But I think that it's also difficult."

Cavani has to play second fiddle to Ibrahimovic at PSG and is reportedly open to the idea of securing a central starring role elsewhere.

But Mourinho said Ibrahimovic, who worked with the him at Inter Milan, is settled in Paris and not an option as he seeks to remedy Chelsea's scoring deficiencies.

"It's impossible," he told Canal Plus. "He's happy in Paris. I know that because we're friends and we're in contact.

"I don't think PSG, with their economic potential, will ever want to open the door for him. It's mission impossible."

Any bid for Cavani is likely to prompt PSG to ask about the possibility of signing Chelsea's Belgium midfielder Hazard.

The 23-year-old has been linked with a move to the rich French club but ruled out a switch last week and Mourinho said he's the type of player Chelsea want to keep "for 10 years."

Mourinho, who has a long-standing relationship with PSG's Qatari owners, also insisted he was never formally approached to take charge of the club after leaving Real Madrid.

"I didn't say yes or no - I didn't receive a real, direct offer," he revealed, confirming that he wants to see out his four-year deal at Chelsea.

But Mourinho did not rule out eventually working at PSG. "I could work in France in the future. Why not?" he said. "I think at the moment it's a league that doesn't have the same emotion as the English league.

"At the moment, it's a championship where it's easy to say who will finish first and second. For me, at this stage of my career, I need a bit more than that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd