Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has explained his surprise swoop for Steve Sidwell, insisting the former Reading midfielder has a good "mentality".
Sidwell officially joined the Blues on July 1 after agreeing a free transfer in May and Mourinho feels he will be a strong addition to his Stamford Bridge squad.
Mourinho told Chelsea TV: "He is a player I like. He is a player with the mentality which is very welcome in our dressing room and our philosophy.
"He is an English player with English mentality completely adapted to the Premiership with a successful period at Reading.
"He is wishing for new things for his career, playing for a big club and winning titles is a dream for any young player so yes he is a player I would like to have and I told the board we should try to sign."
Mourinho has also snapped up out-of-contract stars Tal Ben Haim and Claudio Pizzaro this summer, but insists he is under no pressure from the board to limit his spending.
Mourinho added: "Nobody from the board said 'Jose, you have to only bring in players on a Bosman because we have no money to spend'.
"I think it's bad business if you only bring in players under the Bosman law and they are not good enough.
"If the only reason you are bringing them is because they are free, they become expensive. The point is to bring in good players."
well, speak about Ballack and Sheva..
-you aint gonna start any flaming here in MY forum-
Is it really a surprise swoop? Not really. Jose needs strengthening on his midfield, since one or two of his midfielders get injured every now and then, and another one or two of his midfielders have to be backups for the backline.
And Chelsea's spending days are over.
And Sid is on free transfer, with a pretty good resume at hand too.