Mohammed Salah: Mourinho denies selling forward at Chelsea

Mourinho reveals it was not his intention to sell Salah at Chelsea

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has denied selling Liverpool star Mohammed Salah when he was at Chelsea.

Mourinho brought in Salah from Switzerland side FC Basel in 2014 and after an unsuccessful first season, he was sent on loan to Fiorentina.

Three years on from his first season at Stamford Bridge, Salah was bought by Jurgen Klopp to Liverpool where he has excelled and won the PFA Player of the Year.

Chelsea fans have since blamed Mourinho for sanctioning the sale of Salah while he was in charge at Chelsea.

Mourinho has, however, come out to state that Chelsea made the decision to sell Salah not him.

In a report by ESPN Mourinho stated that the accusation towards him about the sale of Salah is not fair.

He said, “It is the first time that I am going to say this, but it is another injustice that has been talked about me.”

Mourinho went on to further state that due to the fact that Salah did not settle well in his first season, both of them agreed that a loan deal will be beneficial for his development.

He said, “People say that I was the one that sold Salah and it is the opposite. I bought Salah. I was the one that told Chelsea to buy Salah. It was with me in charge that Salah came to Chelsea.”

 

He added, “he came as a young kid, physically he was not ready, mentally he was not ready, socially and culturally he was lost and everything was tough for him.

“We decided to put him on loan and he asked for that as well. He wanted to play more minutes, to mature, he wanted to go and we sent him on loan to Fiorentina, and at Fiorentina, he started to mature.”

Mourinho further went on to defend himself for the initial loan arrangement, as he stated that at the time Chelsea had better wingers in Willian and Eden Hazard, not that he was shortsighted to see Salah’s potential.

“Chelsea decided to sell him, OK? And when they say that I was the one that sold him it is a lie. I bought him. I agreed to send him on loan, I thought it was necessary, I thought that Chelsea had wingers.”

“Some of them are still there like Willian, Eden Hazard and all those players already in a different level.”

Mourinho went on to further state that he is happy for Salah for his current goalscoring form despite not being able to find the back of the net against in both legs against Manchester United.

He said, “Effectively I did buy Salah, I didn't sell Salah, but it doesn't matter,

“What matters is that he is a fantastic player, and I am really happy for everything that is happening for him and especially because he scores against everyone and he didn't score against us in two games.”

With 43 goals this season Salah is on course to set new records when Liverpool take on Stoke City in their next Premier League fixture on Sunday, April 28.