Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has refused to rule out a shock summer move for Japanese forward Yoshinori Muto, but says that talking about the player is disrespectful to his current side.
The FC Tokyo striker has emerged as a somewhat surprise target for the Blues in recent days, with reports revealing that the club have contacted the J-League outfit.
Although far from a household name outside of Asia, Muto is highly-rated in his home continent and netted 14 league goals last term for his team.
And when quizzed on the situation, Mourinho didn’t rule out a deal:
“I know a little [about Muto], yes. I don’t think it’s nice for me to speak about a player that plays for FC Tokyo.” He is quoted by Goal.
“If the FC Tokyo coach speaks about my players I wouldn’t be happy.”
The move could perhaps be a commercially driven one, with the Blues having recently signed a mega money shirt sponsorship deal with Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama.
With Muto a big star in that part of the world his presence at Chelsea could hep open the club up to fans from the region, and Mourinho admitted that such factors have to be taken into consideration:
“That’s modern football, that’s modern management so there is something that in modern management you cannot close completely the door to a little bit of commercial interests,” he said.
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