José Mourinho defends Mohamed Salah's leadership during Chelsea's tenure | Football News

Jose Mourinho says the decision to sell Mohamed Salah was that of Chelsea rather than his – and defended his Egyptian management at Stamford Bridge.

Salah joined Chelsea for £ 11m in January 2014 from Basel after impressing Mourinho in two Champions League matches against the Blues. He only limited himself to 19 appearances before the loans contracted with Fiorentina and Roma, which finally became permanent positions.

Since arriving in Liverpool for £ 34 million in June 2017, Salah has established himself as one of the most prominent players in Europe. He reached the Champions League final last year and spearheaded the league title of the Reds League this season.

"When the club decided to sell it, it was not me, I bought it, I did not sell it and my relations with it were good, good," he said. -he declares. be in sports.

"I think he does not regret it because everything went well." Everything went well for him and the progression went well for him, but at that moment there he was more than a kid with a huge desire to play every week, every minute. " and we could not give it to him. "

Mohamed Salah has been an integral part of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp

Mourinho thinks the idea that he has not managed to make the most of Salah is flawed and added that he "had fallen in love" with the player before his arrival.

He added: "A lot of things have been said that are not true." People try to identify me to the coach who sold Salah, I'm the coach who bought Salah. Is completely a bad idea.

"I played against Basel in the Champions League." Salah was a kid in Basel. "When I play against a certain team, I badyze the team and the players for quite a long time and I fell in love with it. of this kid.I bought the kid.

"I pushed the club to buy it and, at the time, we already had some fantastic attacking players – [Eden] Hazard, Willian – we had the best talent there. But I said [Chelsea] to buy this kid.

"It was more of a wingman coming in than a striker like he is now."

Salah was a "lost child in London", according to Mourinho

Mourinho, who lost his managerial position after being sacked at Manchester United last month, said Salah's desire for more play time, in a context of competition for squares , was a fundamental factor in his short stay in London.

"He was just a lost kid in London, he was a lost child in a new world and we wanted to help him get better and better, but he was more concerned with playing and not waiting.

"So we decided to put it on loan, to do it in a culture I knew well – Italy, tactical football, physical football, good place to play, Fiorentina is a good team, without being a team with enormous pressure. for the title and we decided to move there. "