Mourinho plays down Pedro signing as representing Man Utd snub

Costa, who scored 20 goals in 28 Premier League games last term, should not be a victim of so-called “second-season syndrome”, where players perform below the level of their first season, according to Mourinho.

Pedro, 28, signed for Chelsea from Barcelona this week, having previously been a target of Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho won’t be happy to see yet another former Chelsea player play for their title rivals.

The midfielder’s touch was crucial as he got it out of his feet to find Pedro and his cross shot was turned in by Diego Costa.

Without their defensive lynchpin Chelsea were vulnerable and Morrison guided a header past Courtois five minutes later to set up a tense final 30 minutes.

Tenerife-born Pedro has featured in Barcelona’s three most recent games in the UEFA Super Cup and the two-legged Spanish Super Cup, which they lost to Basque club Athletic Bilbao.

The report also claims that executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward’s frequent visits to Barca in the last two months has been an under-the-radar attempt to snare Neymar with an ambitious bid, despite all the talk being about United’s chase for Pedro.

Chelsea started nervously and were indebted to returning goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois who saved Morrison’s early penalty after Nemanja Matic brought down Callum McManaman.

Chelsea must therefore learn from such a scenario in their dealings with John Terry this campaign.

The skipper was substituted at half-time in last week’s defeat at Manchester City but Pulis insisted Mourinho must be respected and knows Chelsea are hurting.

“I think enough time (has passed) to forget his reputation, because tell me when was the last time something happened”.

“I prefer just to focus on us”. When we had the ball we were always risky and the three goals are short for the chances that we created for the football we played.

Match of the Day presenter Linker seems to be suggesting that Terry’s career as a starter in the Premier League is winding down.

Mourinho visibly laughed at Mark Clattenburg’s decision to send off Terry but avoided questions when pressed on the incident by reporters. The Baggies were comprehensively beaten by the title chasing Manchester City in the opening weekend, before being held to a 0-0 draw by the newly promoted Watford at Vicarage Road. We bounced back in a hard situation.