Chelsea are preparing to launch a third bid of £28 million for Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, according to the Express. Blues boss Jose Mourinho has not given up on signing the 27-year-old, despite admitting for the first time yesterday that he has a "plan B and C". The Portuguese manager said of Rooney:
We will keep trying because, when the market is open, official bids are not forbidden. You try because nobody forbids you to try. We have conditions to try to improve our team with one more player. But we do have a Plan B and a Plan C.
Chelsea have been chasing Rooney for much of the summer ever since news emerged that he had become unsettled at Old Trafford following a difficult season under now-retired manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The England international was benched for key games, such as the crucial Champions League encounter with Real Madrid, and was also unhappy that he was played in an unfamiliar midfield role. He is also no longer the club's top striker with Robin van Persie ahead of him in the pecking order. Chelsea have failed with two bids to sign Rooney so far with United insisting the player is not for sale, and if they stick to that stance, Chelsea do have back-up plans. Plan B could be Anzhi's Samuel Eto'o, who played under Mourinho at Inter Milan and has been tipped with a £5 million move to Stamford Bridge. Eto's agents met with Chelsea in London yesterday and a deal is close to being tied up. Alternatively, Mourinho also has a "plan C" - click here to see who it could be.