Jose Mourinho Discusses Transfers and New Season Preparations for Fenerbahçe

Fenerbahçe Head Coach Jose Mourinho spoke to the club channel FB TV, providing information about the transfer period and preparations for the new season.

Jose Mourinho’s statements are as follows:

“I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE FIRST WEEK”

It was a camp where my players gave their all. It wasn’t an easy week because the first week is always hard. We trained twice a day. Everyone was very focused on our work and did their best. We tried to focus on our training rather than the match we played on Saturday. It’s not easy to play such a preparation match. Because the players were already tired from the week’s training before the match, but it was a good opportunity for me to get to know my players. Likewise, it was a good opportunity for them to get to know me. We had many missing players, but it was always an opportunity for me to see the young players I had. It was also good for me to understand the level of our club’s organization. There was no mistake during the whole week. Everything progressed very well and in an organized manner. That’s why I’m very happy with the first week we spent.

“NOT ALL PLAYERS ARE WITH ME”

Of course, the players we have now are different for us. The situation will be different after the players join our team next week. After the European Championship, the situation will be different for us. Currently, there are many young players in the squad we are working with. Probably many of them will not be in the first team when the season preparations are over, but I am happy to work with them and prepare them for the future. Of course, there will be players leaving our team during this preparation period, and we also have players in their national teams. Besides, we have players on leave like Szymanski, Tadic, and Livakovic. That makes about 8-9 players. This is not easy; it’s almost 50% of the team. The difficulty we are experiencing right now is the European Championship. Not all players are with me, but we have a quality team left from last year. We want to do the right things in the transfer period, at the right moment in the market, and smartly. We want to act smartly, not emotionally.

ÇAĞLAR SÖYÜNCÜ TRANSFER

I am very happy. I also thank our president because he was one of the players I wanted to stay. Çağlar has many qualities that I love as a player. He had previously indicated that he wanted to stay. We always want players who want to stay at the club and are loyal to the club to be in our team. Before I came to Fenerbahçe, I was interested in him during my time at Roma, I wanted to add him to the team, but it was not possible. He knows what I want, and I know very well what he wants. He loves it here and wanted to make a permanent transfer here. Atletico Madrid had many options, but our club did a really good job. Çağlar also worked hard to stay here. Tomorrow he will come with us to Austria. The camp we will have in Austria is very important for us because we have many players in the European Championship. He could not participate in the European Championship due to his injury. Therefore, he will start working with us tomorrow. It will be very important for us.

“NO TEAM WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP DURING THE TRANSFER PERIOD”

For the press, the transfer period is open for 12 months. For clubs, this is different, but in the press, the transfer period continues for 12 months. This is actually enjoyable for people, but there are also realities. Some teams have already made a lot of transfers, which I think is good for the league. But I hope they can pay the salaries because very high salaries are being paid. I hope they do not have problems with this in the future, which is not really our problem. We need to focus on ourselves, not on other teams. We have identified the profiles we need. From the first day I came here, we have been talking about this, we know the profiles we need. So I know we will play our first official match very soon. This puts some pressure on us, but we need to stay calm. We need to bring the right players with the right deals. We should not rush. We do not have a situation where we need to bring in many players, like 6, 7, or 8 players. We know our priorities. I am aware that in people’s eyes Çağlar was already like a Fenerbahçe player, but he was not actually. He came on loan. Therefore, we re-added him to our team and brought in a good defender.

From the coming weeks, I guess we will add players who fit our approach to our squad. No team wins the championship during the transfer period. Championships are won in April and May. During the transfer season, you only win the transfer cup, which doesn’t actually exist. We need to stay calm, we know what we want. I am sure we will do what we want during this period. I do not have time to enjoy what is being talked about in the press during the transfer period. I am focused on my work. I know that there are many false news written in the press and on the internet, real news as well. I do not have time to spend enjoyable time with these. I am completely focused on my work. Now we will go to Austria, we will have a camp there. Official matches will start in two weeks. Livakovic, Tadic, and Szymanski will join our team in the second week. Djiku and Bright have returned, and they are ready to play in the first preparation match. I think Çağlar Söyüncü will also be ready to play in the first preparation match,” he said.

“ONE OF THE NEGATIVE THINGS HERE IS THAT THE FOOD IS VERY GOOD”

I don’t know if the cake-cutting culture is Turkish or specific to the club, but it’s one of the nice things I see here. In my career, I try to learn different things from the culture of the places I work. I also like the cake ceremony here. It’s actually like feeding a baby—the birthday person is the baby—the older one feeding the cake is very nice. The players are always together, creating a family atmosphere. At the same time, one of the negative things here is that the food is very good. Normally, I take good care of myself, but here I need to take twice as good care of myself because the food is really good.