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.
AS Roma Jose Mourinho has served a response after being called out over the “ugly” tactics he employed during the second leg of the Europa League semi-final clash with Bayer Leverkusen. Roma progressed to the final of the Europa League after grabbing a draw during the match. The Italian club which had a 1-0 advantage, sat inside their half in the second-leg of semi-final match and defended with their bodies. 
Trending:Another Nigerian lady set to break Guinness World Record as she begins counting of rice grains (Video) Xabi Alonso’s men had 23 attempts and failed to convert any. Roma on the other hand failed to register a single shot on target. Criticizing Mourinho after the match, Leverkusen midfielder Kerem Demirbay said; “It’s a shame that in a semi-final at such a high level that this type of play can be rewarded. They made things very ugly at the end.” 
When asked about the tactics and if he is physically fine, Mourinho said refrained from engaging in his trademark celebratory run on the pitch because of his close bond with Leverkusen manager, Xabi Alonso who he coached during his stint with Real Madrid. He said; “No, it’s not an agility problem. Experience doesn’t come into it because you still feel the pressure during these moments in the same way. You feel the same joy too. It doesn’t change anything. “To tell you the truth, it’s very hard for me to come up against my friends because while you may forget during the game, it’s tough afterwards. I don’t like celebrating in front of my guys and the person doing an extraordinary job out there, Xabi, is one of mine. That’s why I struggle.” 
The South American country’s national team still has no coach since Tite resigned from the post after the team’s loss to Croatia in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final. The Athletic reported that while Carlo Ancelotti remains the favourite to take the job, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has drafted Mourinho as an alternative if their attempt to appoint the Italian as the next coach is unsuccessful. It was also learnt that the CBF’s preferred candidate, Ancelotti, has requested to defer any meeting before the ongoing season ends. Ancelotti has a contract with Real Madrid until 2024 but he has a condition in his contract that he has to win at least one major trophy this season. Other candidates who have been shortlisted are Fenerbahce manager Jorge Jesus, Fluminense head coach Fernando Diniz, and Palmeiras’ Abel Ferreira. 
