Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho slams Juan Mata for not being clever

Jose Mourinho and Juan Mata

Among the generous helping of candid and incendiary comments to have emerged following Jose Mourinho’s most recent press conference is the insinuation that Juan Mata’s decision to depart Stamford Bridge was short-sighted on the part of the Spaniard.

The Express, who recently printed the Portuguese manager’s comments, suggest that Mourinho was alluding to Mata as he revealed his scepticism toward the wisdom involved in a player’s decision to quit Chelsea in response to restricted field time.

“For my players, if they go the only reason for is they are not playing. If they go, it’s because they are not clever,” he said.

The Chelsea manager’s comments come amid criticisms accusing the London-based club of themselves being short-sighted in selling Mata to a Manchester United club who, despite currently residing 7th and 14 points behind first place, undoubtedly have the capacity to threaten next season, at least.

However, Mourinho explained his reasoning for the decision to strengthen their Premier League rivals, arguing that:

“We would have sold Mata to Arsenal, or Manchester City. Honestly. A team can only play with 11 players. City, Arsenal and United are full of top players, so if Juan plays for them it means somebody else is not playing.

“Chelsea are a big, mature club now. We think, what is best for Chelsea? Those who look after the economic department don’t have the same needs as me, a football man, but we decided for all those reasons – and the human one, that Juan desired to go. We did well on this deal.”