‘Ifreke talks Sports: Mourinho’s second coming, Jesus is on his way and Neymar arrives

by ‘Ifreke Inyang

Mourinho_Chelsea return

The circus is back in England. Jose Mourinho has sealed his return as Chelsea boss and in depressingly familiar fashion, resumed with feeding the media with soundbites, we frankly now take with a pinch of salt.

“I’m not happy – I am very happy,” he said. “When you return to a place it is for some reason, not just because you have good results in the past or because the fans like you very much, it’s also because as a human point of view you left something here.”

I don’t think so, Jose. Like someone said, this is a marriage of convenience. No one wants the hot seat at Stamford Bridge and there are no big clubs circling around the Portuguese.

Some Chelsea fans are very estatic already and the odds have been slashed on the Blues winning the League and maybe the Champions League. It won’t be that smooth. Arsene Wenger is planning to overhaul his squad this summer and mount a serious challenge next campaign. David Moyes is ready to settle in straightaway and continue Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy, while Manuel Pellegrini has been given a mandate to win five trophies in five years.

One of the players who will be part of that project is Jesus Navas. The Spanish winger is no doubt a very talented wide player, but like I always say, the English League is unforgiving. Last season, in 37 games, the Sevilla man failed to find the back of the net. In that same position from the right, Arsenal’s Theo Walcott scored 21 times.

More confusing is why City agreed to pay up to £22.9million for the 27-year-old. Navas, who suffered from a case of chronic homesickness, was not comfortable going anywhere beyond the Andalusian city and has not played outside La Liga. We will see how this pans out.

Finally, Neymar has landed in Europe and it’s official. The Brazilian superstar was unveiled on Monday at the Camp Nou and promised to “help Lionel Messi remain the best player on the planet”. It surely will be a big ask. Neymar is used to being the main man. The one who dictates the speed and direction of play. Now he will only be a part of a glittering support cast behind Messi.

One wonders if he will automatically walk into the first 11, or will be constantly rotated with Alexis Sanchez, Pedro Rodriguez and Cesc Fabregas. I’m not too sure if he should have joined Real Madrid, but I know his new challenge in Spain, will not be a walk in the park.

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