It is easy to say that Jose Mourinho is the most talked-about manager in the world. The Portuguese manager has received much stick for both his successes and failures.
Despite being the most successful manager at Chelsea, winning them three league titles, including their first league title in fifty years, his tenure is still under the microscope.
Mourinho’s name generates a lot of traction, and the serial winner is perhaps one of the few managers not afraid of taking on a difficult job.
The mercurial rise of Mohammed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne outside Chelsea has irked many. Their departure from Chelsea has been blamed on Jose Mourinho. The Roma manager has told his side of his story many times, still to the dissatisfaction of his detractors.
Why Salah and de Bruyne were sold
It is not a secret that Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne could not cut it at Chelsea and eventually left. Different stories have come up accusing Jose Mourinho of being behind the player’s departure, but Eddie Newton has explained why they were sold.
Chelsea has been successful without Salah and Kevin De Bruyne, but the club has come under heavy fire for their successes elsewhere. Despite winning the Champions League a second time in 2021, the new campaign carries questions of what might have happened if the two players were still at the club.
In 2012, Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to a Champions League triumph with Eddie Newton as his assistant, and Newton has clarified why both players left the club. Newton insists it was an attitude clash with the Portuguese that saw them leave rather than their ability.
Speaking with Goal, Newton said it wasn’t down to talent, rather a poor attitude from the two players. Newton claims that both players did not see eye-to-eye with the manager, and it was a recipe for failure.
As for Lukaku, Newton believes the Belgian was not ready at the time. Alas, the Belgian completed a big return to his former side and is now the club’s first-choice striker under Thomas Tuchel.
Sojourns elsewhere
Salah and De Bruyne are presently two of the finest players in the Premiership, but their route to stardom took them away from the English before they made a return.
Salah had two loan stints in Italy. His first loan move was to Fiorentina, and then Roma before the capital club made his stay a permanent one for a fee of €15 million. He later joined Liverpool for an initial figure of £36.5 million.
De Bruyne joined Werder Bremen on loan before making a permanent move to Wolfsburg for an £18 million fee in 2014. His return to England cost Manchester City £55 million.
Despite their talent, no major side came calling. Neither Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan or Bayern Munich made a bid for them.
By :
Steven D. Thompson
