Jose Mourinho characterized Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah as “kids who did not want to wait” while explaining Chelsea’s decision to sell both players.
Chelsea secured the signing of De Bruyne from Genk for £7 million in January 2012. However, the Belgian midfielder, who made only nine appearances under Mourinho, departed for Wolfsburg for £18 million two years later. Subsequently, Chelsea announced the £11 million signing of Salah five days after selling De Bruyne. The Egyptian winger, despite managing 19 outings under Mourinho, permanently joined Roma for £15 million in the summer of 2016.
Both players later returned to the Premier League, with De Bruyne joining Manchester City and Salah signing for Liverpool, establishing themselves as two of the generation’s finest players.
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When asked about how such talent slipped away from Chelsea, Mourinho stated on The Obi One Podcast, “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, 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. Sometimes their career goes in the wrong direction.”
Mourinho refuted claims that he gave up on the two players, asserting that he tried to keep both Salah and De Bruyne at Chelsea. Regarding Salah, he clarified, “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 continued, “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. 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 XI. 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.”
Mourinho concluded, “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.”