sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Jose Mourinho Says He Doesn't Deserve Blame For Salah's Chelsea Exit

Jose Mourinho Says He Doesn't Deserve Blame For Salah's Chelsea Exit

The Man United manager says he doesn't deserve the flak he's getting for the move

Jacque Talbot

Jacque Talbot

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says that he's receiving unwarranted criticism for Chelsea's sale of Mohamed Salah and that he should instead be praised for bringing the star to Stamford Bridge initially.

In hindsight, the West London side dropped a clanger in loaning the Egyptian King off to Fiorentina and eventually selling the 25-year-old to AS Roma in 2015. But Mourinho has refused to take a share of the blame.

"Chelsea decided to sell him, OK?, the 55-year-old told ESPN Brazil.

"And when they say that I was the one that sold him it is a lie. I bought him. I agreed to send him on loan, I thought it was necessary, I thought that Chelsea had wingers... Some of them are still there like Willian, [Eden] Hazard and all those players already in a different level."


PA

"So the decision to send him on loan was a decision we made collectively, but after that, the decision to sell him and to use that money to buy another player wasn't mine. But even if it was, in football we make mistakes a lot of times, so many times some players develop in way we were not expecting, some other don't reach another level like we thought they would, so I don't even think this is a mistake, it is just part of the job," Mourinho explained.



In fairness, no one could foresee the dominance Salah has had on football, the player excelling any reasonable expectation of his full potential.

The attacker has now scored 43 times in 47 games, a Messi-sounding record for the season and is the front-runner of the revered Ballon d'Or Award, having won the PFA Player of the Year already.

"But effectively I did buy Salah, I didn't sell Salah, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that he is a fantastic player, and I am really happy for everything that is happening for him and especially because he scores against everyone and he didn't score against us in two games."

Mourinho just had to drop that last bit in there, didn't he?

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Premier League, Salah