5 superstars sold by Jose Mourinho

For more than two decades now, Jose Mourinho has been coaching at the top level in club football. His distinctive conservational style has made its way into the history books of the sport. With 25 trophies and 1,000 games under his belt, Jose Mourinho has undoubtedly established his position as one of the most influential managers ever.

Biggest transfers under Jose Mourinho

With a profile as illustrious as his, Jose Mourinho has had the liberty to get his hands on any player he fancies. From Paul Pogba to Luka Modric, a hoard of star players have moved clubs to play under the enigmatic manager. However, his well-known love for Chelsea arguably made him initiate some of the best transfers of his career.

While Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic were brilliant in their brief spells with the Blues, the cream of the 58-year-old's signings came during his first stint at Stamford Bridge. One of his favorite players was Portuguese center-half Ricardo Carvalho, whom Jose Mourinho signed a whopping three times. He also orchestrated the signings of Chelsea legends Didier Drogba and Petr Cech in his first year in London.

Considering the talents that Jose Mourinho has brought in, he could be forgiven for letting some gems slip through his hands. In hindsight, the former Real Madrid coach has sanctioned some of the most bizarre deals ever. On that note, let's take a look at five superstars that were sold, with Jose Mourinho at the club's helm:

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#5 Juan Mata (Chelsea to Manchester United)

Mata was sensational at Chelsea

Juan Mata was a budding 23-year-old at Valencia when Chelsea snapped him up in the summer of 2011. Although a highly-rated youngster, he still had a lot to prove. Mata immediately laid every doubt to rest with a scintillating debut season in London. The Spaniard replicated his last campaign with the Bats by producing an astonishing 20 assists and 12 goals in the 2011-12 season.

The creative midfielder continued to rack up assists after assists, providing for the team on a consistent basis. Mata notched a career-best 54 goal contributions in his second season with Chelsea, of which a whopping 35 were assists. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, until Jose Mourinho was appointed Chelsea boss in 2013.

Despite being his side's chief creator and a superstar for two seasons, Mata was inexplicably phased out of a stacked Chelsea team by Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese tactician preferred to play the Brazilian Oscar in Mata's position, freezing him out of the team. Subsequently, Mata was sold to Premier League rivals Manchester United in 2014 for €44m.

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#4 Leonardo Bonucci (Inter to Genoa)

Bonucci was instrumental to Italy's Euro 2020 win

Neglecting a bizarre €42m switch to AC Milan for the 2017-18 season, Leonardo Bonucci has been a loyal servant to Juventus for 10 years. Ever since he made a permanent switch to Turin in 2010 from Bari, Bonucci has been an ever-present in the Juve backline.

His unexpected switch to the Rossoneri was also significant for another reason. This transfer meant that Bonucci had entered a special club, consisting of players to have played for 'the big three' in Italy. The sturdy defender actually graduated from the distinguished academy of Inter in 2006.

Having played just four times for the senior squad, Bonucci was ousted from the club under the orders of Jose Mourinho. Although the erratic tactician has a knack for spotting defensive talents, Mourinho's decision to let go of Bonucci has to go down as one of his worst errors in judgment.

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#3 Arjen Robben (Chelsea to Real Madrid)

Robben won the treble with Bayern in 2013

In one of his final decisions as Chelsea boss during his first stint with the club, Jose Mourinho sanctioned the sale of Arjen Robben to Real Madrid for €35m. Having spent just two seasons at Stamford Bridge, Robben was sent packing in the summer of 2007 according to Jose Mourinho's ruling.

Aged 23 at the time of his sale, Robben had to deal with constant injury struggles during his time at Chelsea. Although he was pivotal to the Blues' two consecutive Premier League titles between 2005-2006, Robben was offloaded to Spain as soon as Real Madrid came calling.

Famous for cutting in from right-flank and banging in numerous curlers, the Dutch playmaker truly hit his stride with a transfer to Bayern Munich. Robben made 309 appearances for the Bavarians, netting 144 goals and laying out 101 assists during his 10-year-stay in Germany.

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#2 Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea to Everton)

Lukaku has had a blistering start to his second spell with Chelsea

In the summer transfer window just gone by, Chelsea forked out a gargantuan €115m to get hold of their former prodigy Romelu Lukaku. By the end of the 2020-21 season, Lukaku had established himself as one of the most prolific forwards of the current era, scoring 64 goals in just two seasons at Inter.

Having bought an 18-year-old Lukaku for €15m, Chelsea barely used him during his initial stay with the club. Furthermore, Jose Mourinho's nomination in the dugout in 2013 signaled permanent doom for the Belgian's Chelsea career as he was soon spat out on loan to Everton.

A decisive penalty miss against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup ensured Lukaku's exit from Stamford Bridge. In a surprising turn of events, Jose Mourinho ended up buying the very striker he exiled for a much larger fee during his time as Manchester United boss.

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#1 Kevin De Bruyne (Chelsea to Wolfsburg)

De Bruyne is now valued at €100m

Arguably the most significant player to be misjudged by Jose Mourinho, Kevin De Bruyne was once among the most promising youngsters at Chelsea. Bought from Genk in 2012, the innovative playmaker soon found himself at the center of the Blues' policy of loaning youngsters. As a result, De Bruyne could only spend six months with the club in actuality.

Despite sensing his obvious potential, Jose Mourinho made the bizarre decision to sell the Belgian. Such has been De Bruyne's rise to prominence that the outspoken coach was forced to address the issue in an interview with TalkSport. Jose Mourinho stated:

"He wanted to leave, he wanted to go to Germany where he was previously on loan and so happy, and his decision was to go. Sometimes us coaches make mistakes, but that was not the case. I saw he had the potential to do it, but he just knew perfectly well what he wanted.”

With De Bruyne bossing the midfield in a rampant Manchester City side, Jose Mourinho will have the regret of letting him go, regardless of what the Portuguese says.

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