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Jose Mourinho insists he wants Juan Mata to stay, Arsene Wenger denies Dimitar Berbatov interest
JOSE Mourinho insists he does not want Juan Mata to leave Chelsea and expects the Spain international to remain at Stamford Bridge this month.
Mata, the club's player of the year for the last two seasons, has struggled to establish himself as a first-choice selection since the Portuguese returned during the close season and has been linked with a move to Manchester United.
And the manager's claim that the club's "door was open" if the player wanted to discuss a move away was taken as an indication that Mata's days at the club are numbered.
But Mourinho declared himself happy with the way Mata has reacted to the latest disappointment.
Speaking on Friday ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup third round trip to Derby County, the manager said: "He's not been in to see us and today he trained in a fantastic way.
"He focused more on what I said after the game, when I said 'I don't want him to leave'."
Mourinho also denied negotiations are underway that will see Belgian international Kevin De Bruyne leave Chelsea to join Bundesliga club Wolfsburg.
"I don't want him to leave. But we have a couple of contacts, not made by us but other clubs. We don't want to sell." Turning his attentions to the FA Cup, Mourinho said he will field a strong team against Championship side Derby and disagreed with the view of Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert, who described the competition as an unwanted distraction this week.
"I won lots of trophies but to win the FA Cup at Wembley and feel what that means was one of the high moments in my career. "I have a good feeling for the competition and the good things this country has in terms of football. I think we have to keep them."
Elsewhere, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has maintained that Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov is not currently on his wish list for the January transfer window.
Wenger openly admits Arsenal will not rule out a move for a top-calibre player should the opportunity arise this month, but he was guarded on 32-year-old Bulgarian Berbatov.
"He (Berbatov) is not a name that we have considered at the moment. We have not even been out on the transfer market, we have not contacted anybody,'' Wenger said.
"We are just analysing the situation, being very cautious until we are well informed about Bendtner and (Yaya) Sanogo as well, because he is back in training now. We will make a decision after that.''
Wenger continued: "It depends on how long he (Niklas Bendtner) will be out for.
"But I don't want to go into any speculation on any specific name because that would not help where the player plays at the moment and would be disrespectful to the player's club.
"At the moment we are just considering our options.
"I must confess they are quite restricted; in the way that the players available can strengthen our squad are not on the road, they are all under contract, most of the clubs are in competitions where they need their best players.
"I don't rule anything out, but first I have to assess well our internal situations with the injuries and the players coming back.''
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