Jose Mourinho could be forgiven for feeling slightly nostalgic on Wednesday night.
In a week when the Special One confirmed his return to Chelsea six years after his acrimonious departure, reminders of heady days gone by surrounded the 50-year-old.
Mourinho took time out from his whirlwind week to manage a star-studded World XI in former Blues midfielder Michael Ballack’s testimonial at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany.
If Mourinho felt a slight sense of deja vu then it would have been justified, with his side including Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Andriy Shevchenko and Didier Drogba — all of whom played under the Portuguese manager during his trophy-laden stay in west London.
Last night’s festivities provided Mourinho with a chance to take his foot off the gas after a non-stop 72 hours.
But he met Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller, who was managing the Ballack and Friends team — beaten 4-3 by Mourinho’s World XI — to work out a deal to bring Andre Schurrle to the Bridge.
A £20m deal for the 22-year-old forward, who will sign a five-year contract, is expected to be confirmed on Thursday morning.
As Sportsmail revealed on Tuesday, Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko and Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic are also wanted by Mourinho, and the club are looking at signing Zenit St Petersburg’s Hulk.
The Brazil forward, 26, has been a long-term target for the Blues, with the club trying, and failing, to sign the forward on numerous occasions during Andre Villas-Boas’s time in charge.
Likewise, Mourinho has defensive headaches to resolve, none more so than sorting out John Terry’s long-term future.The Blues skipper, 32, is out of contract next summer, but has made it clear to the Blues hierarchy that he wants to see out the rest of his career at Stamford Bridge.
However, even if Terry does earn himself a new 12-month extension, Mourinho will look to strengthen his defensive options during the summer.
One player who is unlikely to join Mourinho’s Chelsea revolution is Cristiano Ronaldo, after the manager revealed he fell out with the superstar forward at Real Madrid.
Mourinho told Spain Intereconomia: ‘He (Ronaldo) had three great seasons with me. I don’t know if they were the best in his career because at Manchester United he had great seasons too.
‘But I think we found for him a tactical situation that helped him express himself on the pitch perfectly as shown by goal figures. The only problem has been that a coach criticises him from a tactical point of view and he has not accepted it well, thinking, perhaps, that he knows it all and that the coach could not help him become any better.
‘But there is no other problem. The last two games, which have been the only games in which he has not played because he always played before and he always gave everything for the team, in these last couple of weeks he has had this pain in his back and I don’t ever doubt the players when they say they are injured.’
Meanwhile, Kevin de Bruyne has admitted he does not know if he has a long-term future at Chelsea.
The Belgium winger, who spent the season with Werder Bremen, could be playing for any one of four teams next season after provisionally agreeing terms with Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke and is waiting to hear whether he will be wanted at Stamford Bridge.
‘I haven’t spoken to Jose Mourinho, so I don’t know what he thinks of me as a player or what his plans are for me,’ said De Bruyne.
Logically, at big teams like Chelsea, the manager tends to go for the more experienced players and the younger ones have more chances at smaller teams. ‘For me, who the coach is doesn’t really matter. What counts is being at a team where I am going to play games. I want to progress and improve as a player, and I need to be playing to do that.’