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Chelsea Deal Means Tottenham Club Shop Can’t Sell Jose Mourinho Merchandise

Chelsea Deal Means Tottenham Club Shop Can’t Sell Jose Mourinho Merchandise

The Blues signed the superstar manager to an extraordinary deal in 2005.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

If you are urgently hoping to get a Jose Mourinho bobblehead from Tottenham's club shop, you're out of luck - because the Spurs superstore is still selling absolutely no manager merchandise.

This is despite the fact Mourinho has been in place for 10 months and has global marketability as one of the most famous football managers on the planet. Yet the reason seems simple: Chelsea own the merch rights to the Mourinho name until 2025.

According to a report in The Athletic, Mourinho was considered such a marketable name when he first arrived from Porto in 2005, that his name was trademarked by the Blues for a remarkable 20 years.

Then on his return in 2013, further trademarks were added to include "utensils and cookware, as well as other items including games, teddy bears, playing cards and party hats."

Because what child doesn't want Jose Mourinho themed party hats on their birthday?

Yet the mystery does not end there. Because Chelsea have reportedly not enforced the trademark since his departure, so Manchester United happily sold Mourinho merchandise during his spell at Old Trafford.

So Tottenham's decision not to stock their shop full of mugs with Jose's handsome face on is either a fear that Chelsea may suddenly decide to flex their legal rights - or a belief that there's simply not a market for Mourinho-branded goods.

Crushing. Particularly as items that ARE on sale in the Spurs online store include Christian Eriksen fridge magnets (despite the midfielder's departure to Inter Milan), a Giovani Lo Celso keyring, a book on Mauricio Pochettino and a hyper-realistic Joe Hart facemask just in time for Halloween. OK, we made the last one up.

However given Mourinho's profile, not to mention his all-star turn on Amazon Prime's All or Nothing series, it could be argued Spurs are missing a trick in not striking an agreement with Chelsea and flogging 'The Special One' pillow cases worldwide.

Interestingly, The Athletic also reports that Chelsea have only ever trademarked the name of one other individual. Namely, Fernando Torres in 2011 after his arrival from Liverpool.

We can't imagine there's a massive demand for Torres-themed Chelsea wallpaper and alarm clocks in 2020. Unless Gary Neville wants to order some to remind himself of the good old days of Barcelona in 2012.

Imagery: PA Images/shop.tottenhamhotspur.com

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Topics: Football News, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Jose Mourniho, Premier League