The current Manchester United manager sold some exceptional talent whilst at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Having managed some of Europe’s biggest clubs, in the forms of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United; Jose Mourinho has managed some of the most talented footballers on the planet. With 23 trophies to his name in management, the former interpreter has clearly done something right over the course of his 15 years in management.
Mourinho has done some inspired pieces of business in the past, such as bringing Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole to Chelsea, Mesut Ozil and Luka Modric to Real Madrid and Diego Milito and Wesley Sneijder to Inter Milan. Despite those gems, Mourinho has also been criticised for occasionally failing to recognise a players talents and/or potential and letting them go.
It is those players we look at here, creating a Jose Mourinho sold XI, featuring the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Arjen Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and many, many more. The quality of the XI is incredible, but arguably even more shocking is the number of top class players named among the honourable mentions. Here is Jose’s sold XI:
Mourinho has sold a seemingly world class XI
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Jose Mourinho had a tough decision to make between Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois. Ultimately, neither were going to be happy playing second fiddle, and in the end, Mourinho opted for youth. Cech is both a Chelsea and a Premier League legend, with more Premier League clean sheets than any other ‘keeper, the 34-year-old won 15 trophies in 11 years at Stamford Bridge.
Centre-Back: William Gallas
William Gallas was a top class centre-back who went about his business with minimal fuss. The Frenchman had been at Chelsea for 5 years when Mourinho decided to use him as a makeweight in the deal to bring Ashley Cole to the club. Of course, Cole went on to be a tremendous player at the Bridge, and one of the finest full-backs in the world, before also being sold by Mourinho to Roma.
Centre-Back: Leonardo Bonucci
From Desailly to Andrade, Mourinho sold some very good defenders, but no defensive sale seems more deplorable with hindsight than that of Leonardo Bonucci. Now widely considered one of the best defenders in world football, Bonucci didn’t make a single appearance under Mourinho at Inter Milan, and was sold to Bari, with Inter receiving just £3.4 million.
A year later, Bonucci joined Juventus for more than £13 million, and when Chelsea were linked with the Italian in the summer, the fee being bandied about was £50 million. Bonucci has made almost 300 appearances in 6 years at Juve, winning 5 Serie A titles and 5 other major trophies.
Centre-Bac: Ezequiel Garay
It’s easy to see why Jose Mourinho sold Ezequiel Garay. With Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane all highly-rated by the Portuguese coach at the Bernabeu, first team opportunities were always likely to be at a premium for Garay. That doesn’t alter the fact that he’s a very capable defender though, and despited having been heavily linked with Manchester United in the summer, the Argentine ended up joining Valencia for just under £20 million.
Central Midfield: Juan Mata
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho talks with Juan Mata
One of two players Jose Mourinho sold but is now managing at Manchester United in this XI, Jose sold Mata whilst at Chelsea for £37.1 million. The Spanish playmaker had been Chelsea’s Player of the Year in both of the last two seasons, so many people were surprised to see him frozen out at the Bridge under Mourinho, in favour of the supposedly more hard working Oscar.
Central Midfield: Tiago
Going way back to Mourinho’s debut season at Chelsea, and the serial winner made the decision to sell Tiago to Lyon for a reported €10.1 million. It was a decision that Mourinho later described as a “big mistake”, and more than a decade on, Tiago is still a big player in Diego Simeone’s expertly drilled Atletico Madrid squad. The 35-year-old has won 6 trophies at Atletico, as well as reaching 2 Champions League finals.
Left Wing: Arjen Robben
If selling Tiago was a “big mistake”, then selling Arjen Robben was an even bigger one. The Dutch wide man left Chelsea after 3 seasons and more than 100 appearances for the Blues, joining Mourinho’s future club Real Madrid.
Whilst he impressed at the Bernabeu, it was at Bayern Munich that he really established himself as one of the world’s best players. In 7 years at Bayern, Robben has scored 119 goals in 226 games, an exceptional record for a winger, winning 15 trophies and being shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or 4 times.
Attacking Midfield: Kevin De Bruyne
The Mourinho sale that has received the most coverage recently due to Kevin De Bruyne’s outstanding form for Manchester City, letting the attacking midfielder go whilst at Chelsea has to be considered a big error by Jose.
De Bruyne left Chelsea to join Wolfsburg for £18 million, and after 18 months, Wolfsburg sold him for £55 million to Manchester City. The 25-year-old won Manchester City’s Player of the Year award in his debut season at the Etihad, and has arguably looked even more impressive under Pep Guardiola this season.
Right Wing: Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah is in fine form right now for Roma
A tough call between Andre Schurrle and Mohamed Salah to accompany Arjen Robben and the wings, but the current promise being shown by the 24-year-old Egyptian suggests he was the more ill-thought out sale of the duo.
Whilst Salah was in fact sold under Antonio Conte’s stewardship, Roma were able to purchase him due to a clause inserted into his loan deal with a view to a permanent during Jose Mourinho’s managerial reign. Salah has scored 6 goals and made 4 assists in 13 games so far this season from the right wing, and is statistically one of the best performing players in Europe right now.
Centre-Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The second player Jose Mourinho sold earlier in his career but is now back in charge of once again is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Long considered one of the best footballers on the planet, Mourinho managed Ibrahimovic for just a single season at Inter Milan, before selling him to Barcelona for a reported £59 million plus Samuel Eto’o. Zlatan went on to win 19 trophies in 7 years at Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG.
Centre-Forward: Romelu Lukaku
There was a suspicion when Jose Mourinho and Chelsea sold Romelu Lukaku that it could be decision which would come back to bite them, and so it has proved. Mourinho didn’t believe Lukaku was good enough to be his first choice striker at Chelsea, selling him to Everton for £28 million.
The big Belgian hit 20 goals in his first season at Goodison Park, 25 in his second and currently has 7 from 10 this season. The 23-year-old would now cost any potential suitors a minimum of £65 million. Lukaku has scored more goals than the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Surez and Wayne Rooney when they were his age.
Honourable Mentions:
Jorge Andrade, Carlos Paredes, Helder Postiga, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Marcel Desailly, Scott Parker, Adriano, Hernan Crespo, David Luiz, Frank Lampard, Ryan Bertrand, Andre Shurrle, Robert Huth, Juan Sebastian Veron, Maxwell, Nicolas Burdisso, Guti, Rafael van der Vaart, Nuri Sahin, Lassana Diarra, Michael Essien, Ashley Cole, Thorgan Hazard.
Which has been the worst sale of Mourinho’s managerial career?
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