Jose Mourinho 'Clash' Forced Two Big-Name Players To Leave Chelsea, Says Former Blues Coach

Former Chelsea coach Eddie Newton believes that a “personality clash” with Jose Mourinho resulted in the exits of Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.

Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge in 2013 for his second spell at Chelsea and lifted a Premier League title and a League Cup before he was axed in 2015.

The likes of Salah and De Bruyne were left out of the 58-year-old Roma manager’s plans at Chelsea.

Salah and De Bruyne endured ill-fated spells at Chelsea, but both bounced back and have since established themselves as two of the best players in the world.

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• What Jose Mourinho said about Mo Salah’s struggles at Chelsea

Newton, who worked under the likes of Mourinho and Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea, believes Salah and De Bruyne’s departures weren’t due to their respective talent.

He added that Mourinho didn’t see “eye-to-eye” with the Liverpool winger and Manchester City playmaker.

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“For me, I think Salah and De Bruyne wasn’t about talent,” Newton told Goal.

“It was a personality clash [with Jose Mourinho]. I just didn’t think it was working at the time.

“I think they were more than good enough, but it was the manager who didn’t see eye-to-eye with them, so it wasn’t going to work.”

Read More:

• Jose Mourinho claims he did NOT make a mistake with Kevin De Bruyne at Chelsea

Romelu Lukaku was at Chelsea during Mourinho’s second reign and would complete a permanent move to Everton in 2014 after an initial loan spell.

The 28-year-old Belgian striker reunited with the Portuguese manager at Manchester United in 2017 until the Special One was sacked from the Red Devils in 2018.

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Lukaku made his return to Chelsea in the summer, but Newton claimed that the Belgium international wasn’t “ready” to lead the Blues’ frontline in his first spell.

“For Lukaku, he wasn’t ready at the time, and I don’t care what anyone says,” he added.

“He just wasn’t ready to be the main No 9 up front and carry that platform like Didier [Drogba]. He was always going to be compared to Didier and it wasn’t fair to him at that time.

“It was different situations for different players. He is now back at Chelsea, more mature and a senior player who can play with his back to goal and score.

“He is now ready to complete that journey and fair play to him. A lot of hard work went into where he is now.”

Topics: Jose Mourinho, Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Chelsea, Premier League, Football, England

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9