Mourinho lambasts Real's galactico culture

Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, gave his clearest indication yesterday that he will not make a bid for David Beckham this summer with a fierce attack on Real Madrid's galacticos culture.

Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, gave his clearest indication yesterday that he will not make a bid for David Beckham this summer with a fierce attack on Real Madrid's galacticos culture.

In a radio interview for a station in Barcelona, Mourinho said that the recruitment policy of Real was not consistent with his own club. It is also understood that officials at Chelsea have informed the Spanish club that they would not be interested in signing Beckham.

Mourinho said: "What the devil is a galactico anyway? Is it a player with a lot of prestige? Or one who can produce a great performance in 60 matches? The image of the galactico comes from the social lives, publicity and fame that the players have achieved. And that is those galacticos that I distrust.

"My doubt about them does not concern their ability but what surrounds them and makes their performances inconsistent."

Reports in Portugal yesterday suggested that Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich might have decided upon a different way of rewarding his young coach. There have been suggestions that the Russian might invest in Mourinho's home-town club, Vitoria Setubal, where his father Felix was a player and manager.

Although Mourinho never coached there himself, his father had a long association with the club and served as an official after his management career. It was there that Mourinho was given his first taste of coaching when he helped his father compile scouting reports.

As Chelsea prepared to face Beckham's former club in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, Arjen Robben celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday by revisiting his decision to turn down a move from PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United in favour of Stamford Bridge.

"All I can say is I made the decision to go to Chelsea and I don't have any bad feelings about Manchester United," he said. "It's a great club. I went to Manchester to look at them but they didn't come to a deal and that's it. Chelsea then got in contact and gave me a great feeling. The decision was easy."