Mourinho: Cuadrado was NOT a deadline day panic buy

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insisted signing Juan Cuadrado on transfer deadline day was not a panic buy.

The Columbian winger was acquired from Fiorentina for £27 million while Mohammed Salah went the other way on loan, although the 22-year-old revealed he does not expect to return to Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Andre Schurrle was the other player to exit Chelsea on deadline day with a move to Wolfsburg and Mourinho claimed the German’s departure prompted a move for Cuadrado.

"He is a player we've known for a long, long time,” said Mourinho. “I have played in his league for two seasons [managing Inter Milan], and he could control [games] week after week.

"He is not a panic buy, [the signing] is a reaction to Schurrle."

The versatile winger could make his Chelsea debut against Aston Villa, but the Blues boss admitted he is unsure because of the time the deal took to be processed.

"He's trained just two days. The business was done almost last minute on Monday, and he had to fly Paris for visas. On the Tuesday he trained here, so I cannot say much."

Schurrle made way for the Colombian in a £24m move back to the Bundesliga that proved too good for the Blues to turn down.

Mourinho added: "Schurrle is a player we like very, very much but the business was very good and we are happy.

"We are happy with what he gave us. We are happy with the investment we made one and a half years ago and the profit we did in this transfer window.

"Hopefully we made him a better player and he can have success in Wolfsburg."