Mourinho: I’d sign a 10-year deal at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho puts Chelsea’s re-found steel down to a group willingness to defend more than the “small tactical adjustments” he has made.

The Champions League draw takes place on the same day, with Mourinho believing all their possible opponents – Paris St Germain, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Juventus, Roma or Gent – want to play them. “I have a good relationship with him, as do all other players”. The Portuguese manager spent three years in the Spanish capital but departed in 2013.

“He never said he’d like to go back, he said that in football you never know”, Mourinho insisted.

The Blues travel to King Power stadium this week to face the league leaders Leicester City and Monday’s game would be a great time to start putting a run together and reward the fans for their loyalty and patience. Obviously I feel he did work that impressed last season when he got the team, and in the beginning of the season he was doing so well and showing some great qualities as a manager.

“We have basically the same potential as last season. This season it is more hard to say this player is being magnificent”.

He has one Champions League goal for the Blues since his summer 2014 arrival.

Costa has scored four times this season and just seven goals since January, when his prolific start to life at Chelsea following his £32million move from Atletico came to a halt.

Leicester were fighting relegation for the entirety of last season and survived as Chelsea challenged for and ultimately won the title.

He said: “We have to get better”. The number of foreign coaches in the Premier League, even in the Championship and maybe in League One – I don’t know – is too big compared with the number of English, or in this case British, managers. “I have to improve and the team has to improve”.