Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has stated he did not push Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah out of Stamford Bridge. According to the legendary tactician, the Manchester City and Liverpool stars were not patient enough to wait for their chance.

Salah & De Bruyne Became Successful After Leaving Chelsea

Salah joined Chelsea from FC Basel in January 2014. Over the next 13 months, the Egypt international played 19 matches under then-Chelsea boss Mourinho, scoring twice and recording four assists. In February 2015, he joined Fiorentina on loan before moving on to AS Roma. He proved his mettle in Italy before sealing a move to Liverpool in July 2017. In the last six years, he has cemented his legacy as one of the best players in Liverpool‘s history.

De Bruyne, meanwhile, signed for the Pensioners in January 2012 but did not leave KRC Genk until June 2012. In August 2012, De Bruyne joined Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen on a year-long loan. He played nine games under Mourinho in the 2013-14 season before sealing a permanent move to VfL Wolfsburg in January 2014. Just one-and-a-half seasons later, De Bruyne returned to the Premier League with City, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mourinho Claims De Bruyne & Salah Did Not Wait For Their Chance

In an interview on Obi One Podcast, Mourinho was asked to shed light on the two superstars’ departure. The Portuguese manager insisted that he had no hand in their exit, as they did not wait around for their opportunity.

The AS Roma manager said:

“To be honest, they left because they wanted to leave. They left because they didn’t want to wait. History proves that their option was good because they’ve had the careers they have and reached a high standard, but sometimes kids make decisions like that because they can’t wait, or they don’t have the patience to be calm and to wait for the right moment. Sometimes their career goes in the wrong direction.”

Mourinho singled out De Bruyne, saying he wanted to keep him around but the player opted to leave in search of more minutes.

“With Kevin, it was very similar. We went to pre-season in Asia. We went to Indonesia, Thailand, and Kevin was due to go on loan to a German side. I told the club ‘No, I don’t want him out on loan, I want him with me’. He stayed with me, and he began the Premier League season playing in the starting XI. After that, we played the European Super Cup in Prague against Bayern and he didn’t play that game. Then, the next day, he wants to leave.

“We played the second Premier League game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford and we drew 0-0. He was on the bench and he played some minutes, but it wasn’t enough for him, so he wanted to leave. When you are at Chelsea and you want to leave, go and another one comes. They were just kids who couldn’t wait, and their careers say they were right, but it wasn’t down to me. Probably other guys will say I pushed them out, but not them.”

De Bruyne’s final Premier League match for Chelsea came in a 2-0 win over Fulham on September 21, 2013. The Manchester City icon only played five minutes in that game.