JOSE MOURINHO has revealed why Chelsea were unable to keep hold of both Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah.
The Premier League duo are now widely considered as two of the best players in the division and they were both on the books at Stamford Bridge at one point.
De Bruyne joined from Genk in 2012 and made just nine first team appearances for the London outfit, while Salah arrived in 2014 from Basel and went on to play 19 times for the Blues.
Despite the pair displaying potential during their time with the west London club , they both left in search of pastures new relatively soon after their initial arrival.
And former Chelsea gaffer Mourinho, who was in charge when they were both let go, has explained the reasons behind their exits.
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast with ex-Blues midfielder John Obi Mikel he revealed that both stars wanted out and even labelled them as “kids who couldn’t wait” for their opportunities.
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He said: “To be honest, they left because they wanted to leave. They left because they didn’t want to wait.
“History proves that their option was good because they’ve had the careers they have and reached a high standard, but sometimes kids make decisions like that because they can’t wait,
“Or they don’t have the patience to be calm and to wait for the right moment. Sometimes their career goes in the wrong direction.”
De Bruyne left for Werder Bremen on loan before joining the German’s permanently just two years after arriving at Chelsea.
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While Salah was loaned to Roma in 2015 who signed the Egyptian permanently the following summer for just £17m.
Mourinho, who is now the Roma boss, made it clear in the interview that he didn’t want to let Salah leave Chelsea on a permanent basis.
He said: “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 going from Basel to Liverpool, and I made a fight, I made a war, to make him come to Chelsea.
“Then comes the part when, 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.
“And then Chelsea, at a certain point, decided to sell. He went to Fiorentina and Roma, and that was not me deciding to sell. I was saying let him go on loan if he feels he needs to play every minute of every game.”
The 60-year-old manager explained that De Bruyne’s exit was similar to Salah’s too with the Belgian keen to get as many minutes as possible.
He said: “With Kevin, it was very similar. We went to pre-season in Asia. We went to Indonesia, Thailand, and Kevin was due 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 began the Premier League season playing in the starting 11.
“After that, we played the European Super Cup in Prague against Bayern [Munich] and he didn’t play that game. Then, the next day, he wants 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 and he played some minutes, but it wasn’t enough for him, so he wanted to leave.”
After the pair headed for the exit doors at Stamford Bridge they both excelled earning themselves big money moves back to the Premier League.
De Bruyne joined Manchester City where he has won five league titles, five league cups, two FA Cups and a Champions League.
The 32-year-old has made over 350 appearances for the Cityzens and is often considered the best midfielder in the world when he’s firing on all cylinders.
Salah on the other hand made the move to Merseyside where he joined Liverpool in 2017.
Since his arrival he has not stopped scoring, bagging 200 goals for The Reds and helping them win the Premier League and Champions League.
Despite their spectacular careers after leaving Chelsea. Mourinho didn’t seem too upset about their departures.
The special one explained that talent is easily replaced at a club like Chelsea, but reiterated that he did not force either one out of the door.
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He said: “When you are at Chelsea and you 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.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
