Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has opened up on the departures of Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah during his tenure. In an interview on The Obi One Podcast with ex-Blues midfielder John Obi Mikel, Mourinho recalled reasons behind the exits of the two now legendary Premier League stars. “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.
Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne – Getty image “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,” Mourinho explained. He went further to emphasize that the decisions were driven by the players’ eagerness to play regularly, which they lacked at Stamford Bridge at the time, giving the availability of more competitive stars. De Bruyne later left for Werder Bremen on loan before a permanent move, and Salah was loaned to Roma before a permanent switch to the Italian club. Clarifying his role in Salah’s departure, the Roma boss 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.” Regarding De Bruyne, he stated, “With Kevin, it was very similar. We went to pre-season in Asia, 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.” While Mourinho acknowledges the players’ subsequent success, he reiterated that he did not force them out. “Probably other guys will say I pushed them out, but not them,” he concluded.
Inter Milan’s former captain, Milan Skriniar. Source: Getty Relations between the player and the club had become strained at the turn of the year. Inter failed to sell him to PSG in the January transfer window and stripped him of the captaincy in February after he refused to renew his contract. The Slovak international is expected to complete a move to PSG soon and will team up with Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe in the heart of the club’s backline after spending six seasons with Inter Milan. Inter is reported to have already lined up possible replacements for Skriniar, with Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic among those to have been linked with a switch to San Siro. 
