Latest Chelsea transfer news: 24 hours to Rooney… but why Eto'o?

Wayne Rooney was given 48 hours to make a decision.

It is safe to say 24 hours of that deadline have passed.

The UK and world football media are convinced the striker has made his decision.
It is just not the decision the man who gave him the deadline wants.

“Either commit to Manchester United or say he wants to leave the club,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had said on Monday.

Unless there is late drama – which given Rooney’s history and Mourinho’s dramatic setting cannot be ruled out – Chelsea will have to move to plan B.

Having a Barcelona-type squad of roving attacking players did not quite seem to work against Manchester United.

Things improved when Fernando Torres came on. But his goal-scoring ability is still very much in question.

So what will Samuel Eto’o give Chelsea that Romelu Lukaku or even Victor Moses will not?

Proven finishing. Pretty much on demand. And this sorely what the Blues lack at the moment.

Eto’o if Rooney does not come, then.

"I think the person that started the story has to finish the story," Mourinho told a news conference about Rooney.

"A club like us, a manager like me and the people that work in the club with me, we are not silly to try to get a player from a big club, a club that does not sell what they don't want to sell, we are not silly to try something if somebody didn't start."

Asked if he meant did he want Rooney, who has not commented on the matter publicly, to come out and say he wanted to stay or go, he replied: "Yes."

Chelsea's fans were singing: "Wayne Rooney, we'll sign you next week", at Old Trafford, but they are more likely to see Eto’o now.

The transfer window shuts on September 2 which means whether Rooney meets to Mourinho's two-day deadline or not, the Manchester United fans will definitely get an answer by then.