5 superstars sold by Jose Mourinho

#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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