Mourinho Reveals Reasons Behind Chelsea’s Sale of De Bruyne and Salah

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Jose Mourinho characterized Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah as “young players unwilling to wait,” providing insight into Chelsea’s choice to offload both talents.

Chelsea acquired De Bruyne from Genk for £7m in January 2012, but the Belgian midfielder managed only nine appearances, all under Mourinho, before securing a move to Wolfsburg for £18m two years later.

Shortly after De Bruyne’s departure, Chelsea revealed the £11m signing of Salah. However, the Egyptian winger, under Mourinho, had only 19 outings before permanently joining Roma for £15m in the summer of 2016.

Both players eventually returned to the Premier League, with De Bruyne joining Manchester City and Salah signing for Liverpool, establishing themselves as two of their generation’s premier players.

When questioned about Chelsea relinquishing such talent, Mourinho explained on The Obi One Podcast: “To be honest, they left because they wanted to leave. They left because they didn’t want to wait.

“History shows that their decision was beneficial as they’ve had illustrious careers, but sometimes young players make such choices due to impatience, lacking the calm and patience to wait for the right moment. Occasionally, their careers take an unexpected turn.”

Mourinho dismissed the notion that he gave up on Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah, asserting that he attempted to retain both players at Chelsea.

Addressing Salah, Mourinho clarified: “When people say I let Salah go, I say exactly the opposite. I bought Salah. I was the one who said ‘buy that guy.’ He was moving from Basel to Liverpool, and I fought, I waged a war, to bring him to Chelsea.

“Then comes the part where, to be a Chelsea player, you have to perform, or you need to wait. He didn’t want to wait; he wanted to go on loan. Chelsea, at a certain point, decided to sell. He went to Fiorentina and Roma, and that wasn’t me deciding to sell. I suggested letting him go on loan if he felt the need to play every minute of every game.”

Continuing with De Bruyne, Mourinho shared: “With Kevin, it was very similar. We went to pre-season in Asia. We went to Indonesia, Thailand, and Kevin was supposed to go on loan to a German side.

“I told the club no, I don’t want him out on loan; I want him with me. He stayed with me, and he started the Premier League season in the starting XI. After that, we played the European Super Cup in Prague against Bayern, and he didn’t play that game. The next day, he wanted to leave.

“We played the second Premier League game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and we drew 0-0. He was on the bench, played some minutes, but it wasn’t enough for him, so he wanted to leave.

“When you are at Chelsea and want to leave, go, and another one comes. They were just kids who couldn’t wait, and their careers say they were right, but it wasn’t down to me. Probably other guys will say I pushed them out, but not them.”

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