Porto president Pinto da Costa has launched a scathing attacking on Andre Villas-Boas by insisting he should have joined a bigger side than Chelsea and only left because he was scared of Jose Mourinho's achievements at the Portuguese club.
Villas-Boas was appointed as Chelsea's new manager in June having spent just one season in charge at Porto, where he won the treble of Europa League, Portuguese League and Cup last term.
Mourinho did the same thing at Porto in 2003, but stayed another 12 months before joining Chelsea and was rewarded by claiming the Champions League as well as the domestic title a second time.
Da Costa feels Villas-Boas couldn't cope with the challenge of matching Mourinho's feat and said: "Villas-Boas was living with Mourinho's ghost. He was afraid he would not have the same success as in his first season. I think that was the crucial aspect in his departure.
"If I was his father I would have told him what I told him as his president and his friend: that he should have stayed at FC Porto.
"In football, when you talk about European giants, the measure is not Chelsea. It's Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester United. I told him that this would be (Pep) Guardiola's last season at Barcelona and that was the ideal club for him, but he was scared of the comparisons with Mourinho and left."
Chelsea are interested in signing Porto striker Falcao and midfielder Joao Moutinho and Da Costa admitted only forward Hulk is definitely not for sale.
He added: "If 10 players leave I have replacements for each one of them. There is only one who I don't have a replacement for, who is Hulk. If a player such as Alvaro Pereira or Falcao left, FC Porto would continue to play in the same style. But as there is no player with the same characteristics as Hulk, our game would have to change."
Standard Sport sources in Portugal claim it is unlikely Moutinho will join the Blues this summer because of his £35million release clause.
Read More
Chelsea's need for a combative midfielder has increased following the news that Michael Essien will be out for up to six months due to a knee injury.
Fernando Torres will be first choice up front this season and he looked sharp in his first pre-season friendly with a finely-taken goal in a 3-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers last night. But midfielder Yossi Benayoun scored the goal of the match, showing superb control to juggle the ball and then use a back-heel to flick it in over goalkeeper Nikki Bull.
Centre-back Slobodan Rajkovic, who spent last season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem, scored the other goal.
See Benayoun's goal below...
MORE ABOUT