Jose Mourinho is known to be one of the most ruthless managers in the business along with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola. Pragmatic, unsentimental and emotional, Mourinho is not afraid of making his presence felt. Whether an already established superstar, or an up and coming kid from the academy, no one is safe under Mourinho.
Here is a list of players offloaded in the Mourinho regime:
#10 Hernan Crespo
Hernan Crespo was at the peak of his powers when he arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2003 for £16.8m. Scoring 19 goals in his first season, Crespo seemed to have settled into the squad well. Things went downhill when Mourinho arrived a year later, though. The Portuguese loaned Crespo out to Milan after the arrival of Didier Drogba. He was then recalled to the Chelsea squad in the following summer to provide competition to Drogba.
After scoring 13 goals and winning the Premier League, Crespo was again loaned out for a two-year spell, this time to Inter in 2006. Coincidentally, Mourinho who became Inter manager in 2008, inherited the Argentine again, but this time shipped him out to Genoa on a permanent deal.
#9 David Luiz
David Luiz was one of very few Mourinho sales that made sense at the time. Having signed for the Blues for £25m in 2011, Luiz was offloaded by Mourinho to PSG for a whopping £50m, making him the world’s most expensive defender. Luiz was a part of the Brazilian national team that leaked 7 goals against Germany in the 2014 World Cup just a few weeks later.
Known more for his flashy hair and flamboyance than his defending abilities, Luiz was upset at being utilised as a central midfielder rather than his preferred center back role and was looking for a move away from the Bridge. Although Jose and the board were pleased with the deal, the Brazilian still had the last laugh, as PSG won a domestic treble in his first season at the club.
#8 Raul
Raul was one of very few players who parted ways with Mourinho on good terms. Raul, a Real Madrid great, made 741 appearances for the Spanish club but realised his time was coming to an end. With Mourinho’s arrival at the club, Raul’s playing time was expected to be limited and the Spaniard decided to make the move to Schalke.
Raul who is the third highest goal scorer in UEFA Champions League history scored 323 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions and 66 in the Champions League alone.
#7 Ryan Bertrand
Ryan Bertrand has been one of Southampton’s best players after signing from Chelsea for £10m in 2015. Bertrand was a victim of Chelsea’s loan policy. He was loaned out to several clubs including Bournemouth, Oldham , Norwich, Aston Villa and Southampton before a permanent deal was finalised.
During his brief spell at Chelsea, Bertrand produced some eye-catching performances. He was named Man of the Match in his first Premier League start and again in his third start. Mourinho though was not convinced and decided to loan the youngster out to Aston Villa and then Southampton, who finally made the deal permanent.
Mourinho’s judgement though has come under the microscope following the sale. After offloading Bertrand for £10m, Mourinho signed Baba Rahman for double that amount. While the 26-year-old Bertrand has matured into a full-fledged left back during his time at Southampton, the same cannot be said of Rahman. Although talented, Rahman has a lot to learn and is still a long way from the finished product.
#6 Frank Lampard
Frank Lampard, the man that helped bring silverware to the club was allowed to leave Chelsea after 13 magnificent seasons with the club. The all-time leading goalscorer for Chelsea, Lampard was considered one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. The Englishman, to the shock of many Chelsea fans, signed for title rivals Manchester City in 2014.
Lampard was old and well past his prime but still wanted to play a role in the club – Mourinho though had other plans. The Special One, although not happy with the fact that Lampard wanted to join rivals City, still sanctioned the move. He was left ruing that mistake as Lampard scored a late equalizer against Chelsea at the Etihad which could have potentially cost the Blues the title.
#5 Andre Schurrle
Jose Mourinho spent £18m to sign Andre Schurrle from Bayer Leverkusen. Schurrle was Mourinho’s first signing of his second stint at the club. After scoring 8 goals in a relatively successful first season at Stamford Bridge, the German international was offloaded to Wolfsburg for £22m midway through the next campaign.
Schurrle has been a consistent performer at both club and international level. He has scored a respectable 20 goals in 55 appearances for Germany.
#4 Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku was just coming off the back of an extremely successful season at West Brom where he had been sent on loan. After scoring 17 goals, Lukaku was expected to be the number 1 front man at the Blues. Mourinho though preferred an out-of-form Fernando Torres and an aging Samuel Eto’o.
Lukaku was loaned out to Everton where he continued to enjoy huge success. After completing a permanent move to the Toffees for £28m the following summer, Lukaku outperformed all of Chelsea’s strikers put together. One of the Premier League’s best strikers, Lukaku struck a club record 17 goals for Everton in the 2015/16 season. At just 23, the Belgian has still not reached his peak.
#3 Kevin de Bruyne
The sale of Kevin De Bruyne remains one of the most puzzling moments of Mourinho’s managerial career. Initially a part of Jose’s plans, De Bruyne made 9 appearances in the first half of the 2013/14 season but was benched in the latter part of the season. The young Belgian was sold to Wolfsburg for £18m in 2014. Jose, at the time, claimed that the young Belgian had a weak mentality and wasn’t fit for the league.
De Bruyne was an immediate success in Germany, scoring and assisting numerous times for the German outfit. One of Wolfsburg’s best players, the Belgian midfielder made a record 21 assists in the 2014/15 Bundesliga season. He then made a return to the Premier League after 2 successful seasons in Germany.
Roped in for a massive £55m at the start of the 2015/16, De Bruyne has become a mainstay in Cty’s midfield, scoring and assisting more goals than any of the players in the Chelsea squad.
#2 Juan Mata
Juan Mata was another player to be discarded by Mourinho at the peak of his powers. Mata had won Chelsea's Player of the year award for two consecutive seasons as well as Chelsea Player's Player of the year in 2013. He was then benched by Mourinho who preferred Oscar in the number 10 role.
The Portuguese later described Mata as a luxury player, incapable of adapting to his system and style of play. Chelsea lacked creativity in the midfield without the Spaniard and the side as a whole struggled to score goals and create opportunities for their strikers.
Mata was sold to rivals Manchester United for £37.1m where he has had several up and down moments. With the arrival of Van Gaal at United, Mata's form improved, but the Dutchman has since been replaced by Mourinho, and Mata is yet again set for a spell on the sidelines.
#1 Petr Cech
Mourinho decided to replace Petr Cech – Chelsea’s bedrock during their glory days – with the youthful Thibault Courtois. Cech had been the Premier League’s best keeper for several years, but his form was expected to decline in the following seasons. The young Belgian was well on his journey to become one of the best keepers in the world. It seemed a logical move to offload Cech at the time.
After being benched in favour of the Belgian, Cech moved to London rivals Arsenal in the 2015/16 season where he was statistically the best keeper of the season with a better save to goal ratio than any other keeper in the league.
To make matters worse, Courtois was ruled out of the 2015 calendar year in September with a long term injury. Although Cech could not help Arsenal win the league, he was still responsible for their title challenge. On the other hand, Chelsea finished 10th in one of their worst seasons in recent football history.
