From
Romelu Lukaku to Filipe Luis, Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata and more, here
are the top 10 players who went on to shine after being rejected by
their coach, Jose Mourinho.
Salah
As Mohamed Salah prepares to face Jose Mourinho with Liverpool on
Saturday, we pick out the best players the Portuguese manager originally
deemed not good enough.
Mourinho has enjoyed success across Europe since steering Porto to
the Champions League trophy in 2004, winning trophies at Chelsea, Inter
Milan, Real Madrid and now Manchester United, but the Special One has
shown the door to a number of top-class players along the way.
Salah is one of them. The Egyptian was given minimal playing time
by Mourinho during his spell at Chelsea before being sold permanently to
Roma in 2016. At Anfield on Saturday, he will be eager to prove a point
to the Manchester United manager.
From Romelu Lukaku to Filipe Luis, here are the top 10 players who went on to shine after being rejected by Mourinho.
Romelu Lukaku
Mourinho and Lukaku have been reunited to devastating effect this
season, with the £75m striker spearheading Manchester United's attack
and scoring 11 goals in his first 10 appearances.
But it was a very different story three years ago, when Lukaku was
forced to leave Mourinho's Chelsea for Everton in search of regular
playing time.
The Belgium was only given two appearances by Mourinho during his
time at Stamford Bridge, but went on to score 87 goals in 166
appearances for Everton, persuading the Portuguese to come back in for
him in the summer.
Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City needed to part with £54.5m to bring De Bruyne back
to the Premier League, just one season after his permanent move to
Wolfsburg from Chelsea under Mourinho.
Mourinho labelled De Bruyne "an upset kid" and criticised his
efforts in training. Despite playing the midfielder in the first three
Premier League games of Chelsea's 2013-14 season, De Bruyne was sold for
£18m to Wolfsburg in the same month.
De Bruyne registered 18 assists in the 2016-17 campaign for Pep
Guardiola's side, more than any other player in the top flight, and he
has started the new campaign in similar style.
Leonardo Bonucci
Juventus centre-back Bonucci was deemed surplus to requirements by
Mourinho at Inter Milan before going on to win six Serie A titles with
Juve. Mourinho allowed the then 22-year-old to leave the San Siro in
2009 for a meagre £3.4m.
Bonucci, 30, was coveted by a number of top clubs this summer before eventually opting to join Juve's Serie A rivals AC Milan.
Ryan Bertrand
Bertrand, 27, spent much of his early 20s on loan away from
Stamford Bridge, but despite starting in Chelsea's Champions League
final win over Bayern Munich in 2012, Mourinho allowed the England
left-back to leave permanently for Southampton in 2014.
Juan Mata
Chelsea's two-time Player of the Year, Mata, was soon usurped by
Oscar after Mourinho's return to the club at the end of the season. He
then allowed the Spaniard to join rivals Manchester United in the
following January transfer window.
Mata became an important figure for United, and that remains the
case now that he is working with Mourinho again. The 29-year-old has
started six of their first seven Premier League games this season,
scoring his first goal of the campaign against Crystal Palace last
weekend.
David Luiz
Mourinho allowed David Luiz to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2014 for
a £50m fee just a month before a horror show in Brazil's 7-1 defeat to
Germany in the World Cup semi-final, justifying the then Chelsea
manager's decision.
Luiz has flourished since returning to the club under different
management, though, and is now dubbed an Antonio Conte masterstroke
following Chelsea's Premier League title win in May.
Mohamed Salah
Salah was signed by Chelsea under Mourinho's watch but he was given
few opportunities before being loaned out to Fiorentina and Roma.
He shone in Serie A, scoring 15 goals and claiming 11 assists last
season at Roma and persuading Liverpool to pay £34m for his signature.
The Egyptian has made an impressive start at Anfield, too, scoring
four goals and providing one assist in his first seven Premier League
appearances for Jurgen Klopp's side.
Oriol Romeu
The Southampton player was just 23 when he was allowed to leave
Stamford Bridge for less than £6m under Mourinho in 2015, but has become
a dominant midfield force at St Mary's.
Andre Villas-Boas said Romeu had a "brilliant future" when he was
unveiled at Stamford Bridge alongside Lukaku in 2011 after leaving
Barcelona, and former Saints boss Claude Puel claimed the 25-year-old is
"not far off" the level of PFA Player of the Year N'Golo Kante.
Ezequiel Garay
Allowed to leave Real Madrid under Mourinho at the age of 24,
Argentina international Garay impressed at Benfica and earned a
big-money move back to La Liga with Valencia in 2016.
The centre-back is a key player at the Mestalla and was touted as a
possible Chelsea transfer target this summer, according to reports in
Italy.
Filipe Luis
Filipe Luis was signed by Mourinho after his solid displays in
Atletico Madrid's La Liga-winning campaign in 2013-14, but only spent
one season at Stamford Bridge before returning to his old side having
made just 15 appearances for the Blues.
The Brazilian picked up where he left off at the Vicente Calderon,
though, making 48 appearances for the Spanish side in the 2016-17 season
as Atleti reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and once
again boasted the best defensive record in the Spanish top flight ahead
of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
-SkySports
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