Jose Mourinho might be one of the most decorated managers of all time, but some pretty talented players have been allowed to slip through his grasp.
Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne now find themselves battling for the Premier League Player of the Year award despite making 16 combined appearances in the competition under Mourinho for Chelsea.
The current Manchester United manager has been criticised for not giving either a fair chance to prove their talent, but they are not the only stars to shine brighter after emerging from Mourinho’s shadow.
Here are Squawka’s top eight players who went on to become world-class after the ‘Special One’ let them go:
Kevin De Bruyne
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: Genk (loan), Werder Bremen (loan), Wolfsburg, Manchester City
The Belgium international has been one of the Premier League’s leading lights this season. Now firmly established at the top of England’s top flight (and the assists chart), there was once a time when he wasn’t even considered good enough for it. At Chelsea under Mourinho, De Bruyne made only three Premier League appearances and was sent out on loan to both Genk and Werder Bremen. He was eventually sold to German side Wolfsburg for £18 million, becoming their star player.
During the 2014/15 season, he scored 10 goals and recorded 20 assists in the 34 Bundesliga games, an incredible tally that earned him a move to Manchester City for a then-club record £55m. Since then, he has provided more league assists (42) than any other player in Europe’s top five divisions, let alone the Premier League.
Mohamed Salah
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: Fiorentina (loan), AS Roma, Liverpool
The Egyptian international first came to the world’s attention while playing for Swiss champions Basel. He made such an impression Chelsea stumped up £11m to bring him to the Bridge.
He was used sparingly while at the club and was loaned out to Serie A side Fiorentina, where he became a key contributor with six goals in 16 league appearances. The Egyptian was then loaned out to Roma with an option to make the deal permanent for a fee of €15m.
The Serie A side duly obliged and Salah became a star, grabbing 15 goals in 31 Serie A appearances in the 2016/17 season. Liverpool secured his signature for around £38m in the summer and their top-scorer is now just three goals shy of breaking the Premier League record for most goals in a single season (31) currently held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.
David Luiz
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: PSG, Chelsea
The Brazilian centre-back was a key player during Chelsea’s title success of 2016/17 and featured heavily in the club’s FA Cup and Europa League triumphs during his first spell.
Signed by Carlo Ancelotti in 2011, Luiz was described as his prime target but after Jose Mourinho returned as manager, the ‘Special One’ allowed him to leave in the summer of 2014 for £50m.
After winning the French league title in both 2014/15 and 2015/16, he returned to Chelsea for £34m and lifted his first Premier League trophy. After Luiz re-signed for Chelsea, the club’s all-time record goalscorer Frank Lampard commented that the Brazilian had “matured into a world-class defender”.
Romelu Lukaku
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: West Brom (loan), Everton, Manchester United
It is hard to comprehend why anyone would let Romelu Lukaku leave a football club but that is exactly what Jose Mourinho did with the Belgian.
Signed from Anderlecht, Lukaku was already prolific in the Belgium top flight, scoring 33 goals in 73 appearances as a teenager. Despite that, he was given just 10 Premier League appearances to prove he had the goalscoring touch before being phased out of the club. Lukaku was loaned out to both West Brom and Everton, scoring 17 and 15 league goals respectively, before joining the Toffees on a permanent deal in 2014 for £28m.
During the next three seasons, Lukaku would score 53 times in the Premier League, becoming the club’s all-time top-scorer in the competition, before reuniting with Mourinho at Manchester United for an initial £75m.
Arjen Robben
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich
Robben’s time at Chelsea under Mourinho was quite fruitful and the Dutch winger was part of the 2004/05 Premier League-winning team. During his three seasons with the London club, he won two league titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups while scoring 15 times in 67 top-flight outings.
Robben was eventually sold to Real Madrid for £24m, winning one league title while in the Spanish capital but it was his move to Germany in 2009 that has brought him the most success. Picking up 13 trophies to date – with a seventh Bundesliga title imminent – Robben has been an integral part of Bayern Munich’s all-conquering side ever since.
Leonardo Bonucci
Managed by Mourinho at: Inter Milan
Clubs since: Genoa, Bari, Juventus, AC Milan
Now considered by many one of Italy’s best defenders, Leonardo Bonucci did not impress Jose Mourinho during the manager’s two-year stint in Milan.
The Portuguese allowed Bonucci to head out on loan to both Treviso and Pisa. He was then sold to Genoa on a permanent deal before becoming a star performer at Bari in 2009/10.
Juventus signed him for £12 million in 2010. There, the Italy international became one part of perhaps the most formidable defence in recent Champions League history, winning six league titles alongside the rest of the Old Lady’s BBC and in front of the legendary Gianluigi Buffon.
After failing to lift Europe’s most prestigious prize in club competition last summer, however, the 30-year-old joined AC Milan for €42m.
Tiago
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: Lyon, Juventus, Atletico Madrid
After only one season at Chelsea, the former Benfica midfielder was swiftly moved on by Jose Mourinho and joined Lyon for €10.1 million, five million less than the figure he was signed for.
Mourinho would later admit that letting the former Portugal international go was “a big mistake”. Tiago won two league titles with the French club, scoring nine times in 56 league appearances. A move to Juventus followed but Tiago failed to make an impact in Italy, resulting in a loan move to Atletico Madrid, followed by a permanent sale.
Tiago would win the 2013/14 La Liga title in an historic achievement for Atleti that temporarily broke up the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly and made 175 league appearances during his time with the club, scoring 17 goals.
Now retired, he is currently assistant manager at Atletico.
Filipe Luis
Managed by Mourinho at: Chelsea
Clubs since: Atletico Madrid
The Brazilian left-back’s stay in London was short-lived. Already considered among the best full-backs in Europe, he still only lasted one season at Stamford Bridge following his transfer from Atletico Madrid in 2014 for £15.8 million.
Filipe Luis made just 15 Premier League appearances in Mourinho’s title-winning return to Chelsea in 2014/15 before being sold back to Spain a year later. He had re-established himself as a key member of Diego Simeone’s near-impenetrable defensive unit only to suffer a broken leg in a Europa League tie in March.
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