LONDON -- Jose Mourinho says the reason Chelsea receive such high fees for unwanted players is because they "don't sell garbage," as he prepares to welcome former striker Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho's side host Everton on Wednesday, with Belgium international Lukaku returning to the club following his 28 million-pound summer move.
That was one of a series of big outgoing deals for Chelsea that also included Juan Mata's move to Manchester United, David Luiz's sale to Paris Saint-Germain, and Kevin De Bruyne and Andre Schurrle's switches to Wolfsburg.
When asked why that was at a news conference on Tuesday, Mourinho replied: "Because they are good. We don't sell garbage. We sell top players.
"Mata: world champion. Schurrle: world champion. Lukaku: one of the best young strikers, fantastic prospect. De Bruyne: one of the best young players also. Both playing for a very important national team, probably one of the best national teams for the next decade. We sell top players and we get top fees. If we didn't get top fees, we wouldn't sell them because we want to keep them."
Lukaku, who had loan spells at West Brom and Everton before his permanent switch to Goodison Park, was unable to make an impact for Chelsea, but Mourinho dismissed a suggestion the striker may have something to prove.
"No. I think he proves every weekend that he's a good player," he said. "Nobody has doubts at Chelsea that he's a good player. He has nothing to prove to us. We know he's a good player.
"We know Schurrle is a good player. De Bruyne is a good player. Mata is a good player. But that's football, that's life, that's the market. The players' wishes sometimes [are] to be in clubs where they become clearly the first options -- that's football, that's life.
"It's done. It's done. The important thing is if he's [Lukaku] happy. If he is, that's good. From what I know of him, the couple of months we worked together, I think he's happy now. He wanted to play all the time. So I think he has to be a happy kid."
Mourinho also confirmed that Cesc Fabregas was available for selection again, with John Obi Mikel Chelsea's only injury doubt.
"Injured, we have only Mikel with a little problem in his knee, but he's the only one that's not in condition to play tomorrow," he said. "After that we have a couple of little things we have to control until tomorrow, but normally not a problem."