Among all the interesting and less transfer rumors attached to Chelsea, the potential departures of Fernando Torres and Juan Mata stand out, although according to both players, they don’t see themselves playing anywhere else but at Stamford Bridge next season.

The arrival of Jose Mourinho has sent the media into a feeding frenzy, acquiring every slither of information on the players he might want to add to the team, or those he would like to get rid of. But at the end, players aren’t released from teams for no good reason.

So why are players sold?

1) The club needs money, either from saving on their wages or from the transfer fee.

2) There’s a better player at the position to be bought, and there’s no room for both of them to co-exist.

3) The player is a dressing room problem.

4) They ask for it.

Fernando Torres seems to fit two of these criterias. He himself wouldn’t like to go, despite the rumors linking him to Napoli, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. He has scored only 34 goals in 131 matches for the Blues since joining in 2011, but he feels that there’s still a world class striker inside of him waiting to come out, thinking that Jose Mourinho might be the man up for the job.

There’s no better place than to be than at Chelsea with Mourinho. His words motivate me. He’s said he doesn’t want to speak with the players that are in the Confederations Cup until it’s over. We will meet soon, he will explain what he thinks of me and my situation, and I’ll tell him what I think.

Only a year ago there was a very similar situation for Torres. Right after winning a European trophy, he went into Roman Abramovich’s office and told him he wants to stay with the team only if a first-team spot is promised for him. An agreement was struck, and Torres had a relatively successful Euro tournament (scoring three goals, including the final). The season? Not so much, but he played a lot more than you’d expect for someone with his scoring record, which sorta paid off for Chelsea in the Europa League final.

The weirder of the rumors is attached to one Juan Mata, who is probably he best player on Chelsea for the last couple of seasons. He was voted as player of the year by the fans for a second straight season, scoring 32 goals and adding 59 assists since joining the club from Valencia. Like Torres, he doesn’t see himself playing anywhere else.

Nobody at Chelsea has told me that Mourinho wants me out. When I finished the season I was told that they were very happy with my performances and with the two years I’ve spent with the club. I have three years left on my contract. I’m very happy with Chelsea. Mourinho? I’d prefer to wait until I meet him and work with him before I judge him. That’s simple logic.

The interesting developments with both players should occur once they return from Brazil, hopefully with a Confederations Cup trophy and medal to be proud of. If Chelsea are about to sign one or two of the strikers we’ve been hearing of, getting rid of Torres, at any price, would be a wise decision. But there’s nothing good to be said about thinking to sell Juan Mata, one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, and without someone to replace him both on the team or outside of it.

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