Jose Mourinho reveals why Kevin De Bruyne & Mohamed Salah left Chelsea

Salah and De Bruyne failed to get enough playing time during their early 20s at Chelsea

Future Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne were sold by Chelsea, according to Jose Mourinho, who also stated that the players were “just kids who couldn’t wait” for chances.

The renowned former Blues manager, who led the team to three Premier League titles in two consecutive stints at Stamford Bridge in 2005, 2006, and 2015, was in charge when Chelsea traded Salah to Roma and De Bruyne to Wolfsburg.

The two have grown into two of the Premier League’s greatest players since moving out of west London, which has led some fans to blame Chelsea and Mourinho’s choice to let them leave.

Once he’s on the field, De Bruyne is widely regarded as the best midfield player in all of football. He has won numerous titles with Manchester City and helped Pep Guardiola’s team win the Treble the previous season.

Salah, who has also won the Premier League and Champions League, has been a constant goal scorer for Liverpool, scoring his 200th goal against Crystal Palace last week.

De Bruyne and Salah, according to Mourinho, were impatient at Stamford Bridge and desired to leave to be given more chances to play for the first team.

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‘To be honest, they left because they wanted to leave,’ Mourinho told the Obi One podcast. ‘They left because they didn’t want to wait. ‘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. 

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.’

‘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 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.

‘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.’

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