Last updated at 10:50 19 June 2007

Jose Mourinho today admitted the club's lack of spending in the transfer market this summer means he will have to put his faith in Chelsea's 'melons' next season.

Using language that Eric Cantona would have been proud of, the Blues boss said young players like Scott Sinclair will get more responsibility as Chelsea attempt to wrest the league title back from Manchester United.

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Mourinho said: "Young players are a little bit like melons - only when you open them up and taste the melon are you 100 per cent sure that the melon is good.

"Sometimes you have beautiful melons but they don't taste very good; other melons are a bit ugly and when you open them the taste is fantastic. They way Scott Sinclair played against Arsenal and Manchester United - we know the melon we have."

Mourinho has signed Steven Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim and Claudio Pizarro on free transfers while United have spent over £50million on Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, who have already signed Gareth Bale in a £10m deal, are also expected to spend more than Chelsea this summer.

Mourinho added: "It is very difficult to win every competition, but I don't understand why people put this kind of pressure on Chelsea and not on the others.

"People ask Chelsea, 'Last season you won two trophies; why did you not win four?' But not many journalists ask Rafael Benitez and Arsene Wenger, 'Why zero?' And not many people ask Manchester United, 'Why only the Premiership?'

"Is it about money? If it is, I hope that next season the media put pressure on the big spenders because the big spenders for sure will not be Chelsea. The spenders will be Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and maybe Arsenal.

"I don't know, but it won't be Chelsea for sure.

"So maybe at the beginning of next season they will say that Chelsea are not the favourites any more because the club did not spend so much money," he added in Chelsea magazine.