LONDON -- Jose Mourinho has indicated that Chelsea plan to buy if either Mohamed Salah or Andre Schurrle exit the club but played down his interest in Fiorentina's Juan Cuadrado and claimed: "Our desire is to keep the same squad."
Club sources have already told ESPN FC that there has been contact between Colombia international Cuadrado's camp and Chelsea, even if Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella has claimed he expects the winger to stay.
Mourinho also sought to cool speculation over the player with a joke during his news conference on Friday.
"It's a player from Fiorentina," Mourinho said. "I shouldn't make any comments about players from other clubs. You speak about Cuadrado -- you can speak about 10, 20 players. If I don't know them, I am in trouble, because my son knows them! It's my job to know them all.
"There are not men [ear-marked as signings]. I think he fits well in Fiorentina's squad and Colombia's squad, not in Chelsea's squad."
Mourinho also said he wanted to keep Salah and Schurrle but could not rule out the prospect that the pair may leave.
"The window is open, but what I can say is I like them, I need them and I trust them," he said. "I cannot select the same 18 players every game -- I only can play 11. Salah is not playing a lot, Schurrle more than him. They are players that play for us in every competition. Even in the Champions League. I count on them."
Mourinho, though, had made similar comments on Juan Mata before his move to Manchester United last year and about Fernando Torres before his loan exit to AC Milan in the summer.
Salah has attracted the interest of Roma for a loan deal, which is seen as the more likely exit, but clubs including Wolfsburg and even Borussia Dortmund are monitoring Schurrle.
Mourinho said both are in the squad for Saturday's FA Cup match against Bradford City, but notably admitted that a big "push" could see Schurrle leave.
"The principle is that we would like him to stay," he said. "The question is not to be allowed or not allowed [to leave]. The question is to have a phenomenal offer and a player to be super keen to accept a new challenge in his career. We don't want to sell our players.
"The club doesn't move. We don't move. Our desire is to keep the same squad, which reflects that we are happy with the players, that we are happy with the work we did in the summer to prepare the season, reflects the trust we have in the group, and if possible we don't want to be involved in the transfer window.
"If we have to be, it's because somebody pushed us, with some offer for our player, but Chelsea moving and looking for a change? No.
"I have no idea, because I don't know if a deal is to happen. I don't know. If my club tells me we have a certain offer for a certain player we think is a good movement for us [then Chelsea could do business] because, as you know, we need to be sometimes in the market, because we are very honoured to be fair with the rules of financial fair play.
"Sometimes we have needs, like we had in the past transfer windows where we sold some players. The reality is normally nothing should happen in the next two weeks and we should go to February with the same squad."