Chapter 659: Chapter 82: Chen, Center Forward?

"He solved it?"

"I thought this would have been resolved earlier."

Mourinho was once eager to bring in a forward to strengthen the team’s attacking power, but the club’s response was consistently that there would be no transfers in the winter window.

Even though, for quite a long time, whenever Mourinho had the chance, he would express his desire for a new forward to the executives through the microphone. However, regarding this issue, the current Mourinho is becoming more resigned to reality.

He is acutely aware that the possibility of buying a new forward from the transfer market in the winter window is almost zero.

At the pre-match press conference for the second leg of the King’s Cup against Levante, Mourinho also candidly answered this question. In front of the cameras, Mourinho somewhat helplessly expressed: "For me, in the team now, there is only one trustworthy center forward."

"No, I should say, now I only have one main choice for a center forward left, as Negredo and Higuain are both unable to play this match due to injuries."

"So, in this match, I can only choose Benzema to start; I have no other options."

The reporters looked at Mourinho and inquired a bit about Morata.

The Real Madrid club executives had previously stated that now is the time to train the young Morata, and if a player like Dzeko is needed, Joselu can be called up from Castilla.

This argument is not without basis; after all, Real Madrid’s Raul and Butragueño were both trained with the opportunity of the main forwards being absent back in the day.

However, Mourinho’s ideas apparently differ from the executives: "Morata is not yet ready to start for the first team. He is training with us now, and for him, continuing to improve and grow is the most important."

"As for Joselu?"

Mourinho just smiled when mentioning Joselu and didn’t have much intention to discuss further.

He also tried to pass a message to the Real Madrid executives through the media from another angle.

"Although there are insufficient options in the forward line now." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"But if Benzema can stay healthy, we can still continue with the current formation."

"If one day Benzema is too exhausted to play, then we will have to adopt another tactic. We will have to go back to the cat and dog theory, meaning whether to adopt an offensive tactic or not."

The Portuguese coach expressed that if the club executives are determined not to strengthen the forward line in the winter window, and once Benzema is also unable to play, he can only consider the possibility of changing tactics, the result of which is unknown.

Through Mourinho’s words, the reporters also seemed less interested because they already knew Florentino’s attitude.

This time, Mourinho seems to be making one last struggle, as he revealed in the pre-interview that he had discussed transfers with the club president Florentino. Although he didn’t reveal what was discussed, it is obvious that Florentino is unwilling to recruit during the winter.

In the end, Mourinho might have also noticed the lack of interest from the reporters and bluntly said: "I have no expectations for new signings now. I talked with the club president two days ago, that’s all."

"Last season, Real Madrid made a big investment, and this season efforts were made to continue with the plan. Now it’s unlikely to bring in a new forward because we are Real Madrid, and we cannot just randomly bring in a player. It’s not easy, but they pay me to work, and I will make sure the players I have perform to the best of their abilities."

Mourinho continued: "I have many players under my charge, and they are all very good, but unfortunately, right now I only have Benzema as a center forward. Now we face a difficult challenge, and I won’t be crying day and night. I believe there will still be discussions about Real Madrid’s transfers by the end of January because player transfers can still occur this month, but this lineup, I will probably have to use till the end of the season."

Finally, Mourinho talked a bit about the starting lineup for this match.

In this match, Mourinho made extensive rotations, with 9 players changed compared to the last match.

Among them, the most notable news was Cristiano Ronaldo’s acute cold and Chen Zhong sitting on the bench.

"Cristiano has an acute cold, but in fact, even with an acute cold, he is capable of playing."

"If it were another game and the result were different, then I would definitely risk using him."

"But you know, we scored 8 goals in the first round."

"And of course, there’s Chen..."

"I originally didn’t want to bring him here, but I thought maybe the players would feel more at ease seeing him on the bench."

"Will he play?"

"We’re gradually reaching form in various competitions, and I hope he can focus his energy on more important matches."

Real Madrid is making great progress in all competitions, and for a cup match where they won the first leg with 8 goals, Mourinho wasn’t too concerned.

In fact, Mourinho didn’t even care whether the team won or not.

The match is over.

2:0

Getafe defeated Real Madrid in this match.

In this match, Benzema unexpectedly failed to score.