10 contradictory statements and moments from Jose Mourinho

#5 How much for Van Dijk?

Virgil Van Dijk - not better than Rio Ferdinand, according to Jose

When Jurgen Klopp parted with £75m to bring Virgil Van Dijk to Liverpool from Southampton – a world-record fee for a defender – more than a few eyebrows were raised. And unsurprisingly, one pair of those eyebrows belonged to Jose Mourinho. With Klopp’s Liverpool being Premier League rivals to Mourinho’s Manchester United, the Portuguese manager simply had to stick his oar into this one.

And so Mourinho questioned the fee, hitting back at Klopp for his comments a year previous when United parted with a world-record fee of £89m to bring in Paul Pogba from Juventus. Mourinho exclaimed

"I think the ones that speak about it (big fees) in a specific way has to be Jurgen, and if I was one of you I would ask him about his comments about one year ago. Van Dijk is the most expensive defender in history of football, was he better than Paolo Maldini, Giuseppe Bergomi or Rio Ferdinand? You cannot say that".

Naturally, that statement didn’t sit well with Liverpool fans.

The fans instantly took to Twitter to condemn Mourinho for what they felt was total hypocrisy, given the ever-inflating transfer market that means transfer fees go up and up each season. One fan even pointed out that Mourinho had paid £30.75m for flop Victor Lindelof, so did that mean he was better than Maldini and Bergomi too? You’ve got to admit it – the Liverpool fan had a fair point.

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Scott is a veteran MMA writer with over two decades of experience, including his ongoing tenure in Sportskeeda, which began seven years ago. He has written over 3000 pieces for the organization, while also covering football. Before joining Sportskeeda, Scott wrote articles for websites like The Oratory and Inside Pulse MMA.

Scott has a degree in history, which drives his research skills and helps him compile accurate information. His long stint in the field helps Scott provide a clear take on important topics, such as the criticism of promotions regarding fighter pay. While he feels fighters deserve a bigger revenue share, he doesn’t want MMA to suffer with purse-split issues.

Scott’s work has been previously reshared by the former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. He uses credible sources, such as the UFC’s official website, during the writing process.

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Edited by Akhilesh Tirumala