Michael Emenalo has defended Chelsea’s transfer activity after his position was called into question after the club’s disastrous start to the campaign.
The Blues have made their worst start to a Premier League season in the Roman Abramovich era and many believe the problems trace back to a summer of disappointment in the market.
Chelsea failed with repeated bids for Everton centre-back John Stones and had to raid the bargain bin to sign £2million backup option Papy Djilobodji, who now looks certain to leave in January, on panic-stricken deadline day.
That followed the club’s decision to sell Filipe Luis back to Atletico Madrid after a disappointing spell in west London while Mo Salah and Juan Cuadrado were both shipped out to Italy on loan.
As technical director, much of the responsibility for player recruitment lies with Emenalo but the former Nigerian international believes the Blues have to accept that they can’t always land primary targets.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “We understand as a club this is football and you don’t always get what you want – and that is not to suggest that we didn’t get what we want.
Chelsea's summer signings in pictures:
“We understand that as long as we have done things right and made the right effort there is no need to have regrets.
“A couple of years ago it was well documented we tried to get [Wayne] Rooney.
“We didn’t get Rooney and we still finished second and started strongly, so there is no correlation between whether we had a big transfer window or not.
“What is important to understand is that as a club we work as a unit to try to get things done and get it done the right way.
“We didn’t get Stones, not because we didn’t want him but because Everton didn’t want to sell Stones.”
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has also come under fire after overseeing just three wins out of 12 Premier League matches so far this term.
Billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has publicly backed to Special One with a vote of confidence and Emenalo, one of the Russian’s most trusted confidantes, says the support is fully deserved.
He added: "When it comes to decisions, we feel confident we have an owner who has a very good track record, who is astute at making decisions of this kind at the right time to get us to where we want to be.
"We have never put ourselves in a position where we second guess him. Part of the reasons he can make those decisions and be successful is because he has the information a lot of people don't.
"He has the whole picture of what is happening at the club, not just from certain individuals but every sector of the club. When he needs to make a decision, he can make it.
"Right now, the statement from the owner and from the board comes from a belief we are in a position to trust a manager who has delivered so much.
"We are in a position to trust a group of players who have delivered in the last couple of seasons.
“We are in a position to see there is light at the end of the tunnel and therein lies our confidence, that we can get out of the situation."
Chelsea return to action against Norwich tomorrow and are boosted by the news that Thibaut Courtois has returned to full training following knee surgery.
However, the Belgian is not expected to be considered for selection until the start of December at the earliest.
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