Jose Mourinho described Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah as \u201ckids who did not want to wait\u201d as he explained Chelsea\u2019s decision to sell both players.<\/strong><\/p>\n Chelsea signed De Bruyne from Genk for \u00a37m in January 2012 but the Belgian midfielder would make just nine appearances, all of which came under Mourinho, before joining Wolfsburg for \u00a318m two years later.<\/p>\n Five days after selling De Bruyne,\u00a0Chelsea\u00a0announced the \u00a311m signing of Salah, but the Egyptian winger managed just 19 outings of his own under Mourinho before joining Roma permanently for \u00a315m in the summer of 2016.<\/p>\n Both players ultimately made their way back to the Premier League, with De Bruyne joining\u00a0Manchester City\u00a0and Salah signing for\u00a0Liverpool, and the duo have since earned reputations as two of the greatest players of their generation.<\/p>\n Asked how Chelsea let such a glut of talent slip through their fingers, Mourinho told\u00a0The Obi One Podcast<\/em>: \u201cTo be honest, they left because they wanted to leave. They left because they didn\u2019t want to wait.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory proves that their option was good because they\u2019ve had the careers they have and reached a high standard, but sometimes kids make decisions like that because they can\u2019t wait, or they don\u2019t have the patience to be calm and to wait for the right moment. Sometimes their career goes in the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Mourinho tried to keep both De Bruyne & Salah \/ Clive Mason\/GettyImages<\/p>\n Mourinho went on to reject suggestions he gave up on the two players and claimed he tried to keep both Salah and De Bruyne at Chelsea.<\/p>\n Beginning with Salah, Mourinho said: \u201cWhen people say I let Salah go, I say exactly the opposite. I bought Salah. I was the one who said \u2018buy that guy\u2019. He was going from Basel to Liverpool, and I made a fight, I made a war, to make him come to Chelsea.<\/p>\n \u201cThen comes the part when, to be a Chelsea player, you have to perform, or you need to wait. He didn\u2019t want to wait, he wanted to go on loan. And then Chelsea, at a certain point, decided to sell. He went to Fiorentina and Roma, and that was not me deciding to sell. I was saying let him go on loan if he feels he needs to play every minute of every game.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Chelsea boss continued: \u201cWith 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI told the club no, I don\u2019t 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\u2019t play that game. Then, the next day, he wants to leave.<\/p>\n \u201cWe played the second Premier League game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford and we drew 0-0. He was on the bench and he played some minutes, but it wasn\u2019t enough for him, so he wanted to leave.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are at Chelsea and you want to leave, go and another one comes. They were just kids who couldn\u2019t wait, and their careers say they were right, but it wasn\u2019t down to me. Probably other guys will say I pushed them out, but not them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n![\"Jose](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/01hhy8vha24chzj7xzcf.jpg\" "\\"Jose")
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