Jose Mourinho has rejected speculation that Chelsea would be prepared to listen to offers for winger Mohamed Salah, who has slipped down the pecking order at the club. Signed for around £ 12 million last January, the former FC Basel man was expected to be the substitute for the likes of Eden Hazard and Willian when they were injured.

However, Chelsea have been extremely lucky with regards to injuries in the last 12 months and Mohamed Salah has barely featured in the matchday squads especially the season.

His performances when picked for the less important competitions like the League Cup have also not been good enough to warrant a selection in the Premier League.

Recently, Turkish outfit Besiktas – who have great relationship with Chelsea after buying Demba Ba in the summer – stated that they were in London over talks for an unnamed player, for his thought to be Salah. Mourinho, though, says that he has a very small squad and he needs a player like Salah should he see injuries in the squad going forward. Even with only three players out injured at the moment – Didier Drogba, Caesar Azpilicueta, and Nathan Ake – Mourinho says that his squad is already stretched and that he may need replacements if Salah leaves even on loan.

“He can’t leave, I have 20 players today with Didier [Drogba] a bit ill and [Cesar] Azpilicueta injured. I had all my players here today, just [Nathan] Ake in the stands.I have a very short squad, I need everybody. For Salah to leave someone has to come, and I don’t think we are going to let Salah go on loan and then spend some money to bring somebody else in. So I don’t think so, unless my club comes to me and says Salah goes on loan and we are going to buy a €65 million player,” said Mourinho.