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Is Mourinho determined to hijack Manchester Utd outcast Rooney?
Manager Jose Mourinho has given a clear hint Chelsea will make a third big-money attempt to buy Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney before the transfer window closes on September 2.
The Europa League holders have already had two sizeable offers for the unsettled England international rejected, with media reports putting the most recent bid at £25 million to £30 million.
"We will try to the last day to add a new player to the squad, a striker, but at this moment every striker has a club," Mourinho told reporters after Chelsea launched their Premier League season with a 2-0 home win over promoted Hull City on Sunday.
"I don't think it's ethical that I name a player that belongs to another club ... but if we have to make the bid we will do it in an ethical way, not like some clubs. We don't speak to players, we speak to clubs.
"We don't do what many clubs do and go around and try to influence players to behave in a certain way. We go direct to the club in a correct manner and we are going to try to do that until the last day of the window."
'The reception was amazing'
The self-styled 'Special One', returning to the club he left in September 2007, was given a rapturous welcome by the Chelsea faithful as Stamford Bridge rocked to chants of 'Jo-se Mou-rin-ho, Jo-se Mou-rin-ho' before the game.
Some fans wore cardboard masks of the popular Portuguese and others waved banners proclaiming 'Jose Mourinho, Simply The Best', 'Welcome Home Boss' and 'The Special One...One Of Us'.
There was a real buzz of excitement ahead of kickoff and when Mourinho finally made an appearance he blew kisses to all corners of the ground before taking his seat in the dugout.
"The reception was amazing," said an emotional Mourinho who is loved by the fans for leading Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League title triumphs in 2005 and 2006.
'I know they like me a lot'
"It gives me more responsibility I guess but at the same time they know I will give everything for this club.
"I was expecting it because I played here with Inter Milan as an opponent (in 2010) and it was fantastic then so I could imagine that coming back to Chelsea it would be like that," added Mourinho.
"But when the game started I focused on the game and from then on they gave me more than I deserved. I know they like me a lot but from now on they have to support the players."
Chelsea blew Hull away
Mourinho was also pleased Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich lent his support to him and the players before the match.
"This is the fifth time I have started a season with Chelsea and it is the first time we have had Mr Abramovich in the dressing room before the game with us," he explained.
"Everybody was in the dressing room, the medical department, players not selected, everyone together, and to have Mr Abramovich coming from his holiday to be there with us meant a lot."
Chelsea blew Hull away with a swashbuckling first-half performance featuring goals from Brazilian Oscar and Frank Lampard who also missed a penalty after Fernando Torres was bundled over by goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
'I was a bit frustrated because I wanted more'
Oscar, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, playing just behind lone striker Torres, led the visiting defence a merry dance in the opening 45 minutes with their pace, passing and trickery.
"I've played here so many times and won so many matches but I've never had such a period of fantastic play like we had in that first half," said Mourinho.
"In the second half when I saw it going in another direction I was a bit frustrated because I wanted more. But after five or 10 minutes I was thinking that we didn't because we couldn't, you can't play that way for 90 minutes.
"We had no physical energy or mental availability to play that way. The three boys behind Fernando in the first half were fantastic but in the second half they disappeared because all three of them had played national team matches in midweek.
"I'm very happy we managed to win and show this is the football we want to play and can play. Now it's up to me to make it happen more often."