The delicate situation at Chelsea and the uncertain future of Jose Mourinho led to a meeting between the manager and the owner of the club, Roman Abramovich. According to British tabloid, the Sun, Mourinho reassured his boss that he is fully equipped to take the team forward just as soon as he is given permission to "remove the bad apples in the squad and get the club moving in the right direction again".

This quote cited in the British tabloid is attributed to a source close to Mourinho, indicating that the Portuguese manager would have said as much to Abramovich. "Jose does not want deadlines put on him for improvement but Roman has told Mourinho he needs to see signs of an upturn", added the source.

The defeat to Stoke City, the seventh of the season, and the constant changes to the starting line-up with big names like Cesc Fàbregas or Eden Hazard on the bench have caused rumours to circulate of the possibility of some players trying to pull the rug from under Mourinho.

Now it seems it is the Portuguese manager that is trying to pull the rug from under some of them. Pull the rug and push them out of the door of Stamford Bridge. If Mourinho is kept on until January, Chelsea could be the biggest player in the winter transfer window.