Mourinho’s confession, how the worst ‘cheat’ in soccer history was born
Do you remember Andriy Shevchenko?
He was the best striker in the world in the 2000s. He was hailed as a “flawless striker” who had no flaws. The striker represented Italian giants AC Milan and dominated European soccer at the height of his career. He was the leading striker in the league and UEFA Champions League (UCL) titles. He was also the league’s top scorer and UCL’s top goalscorer. In 2004, he won the Ballon d’Or.
The accolades and cheers lasted until he left AC Milan. When he switched to Chelsea in 2006, he fell like a stone. He”s still considered one of the worst signings of all time. To sign Shevchenko, Chelsea paid the highest transfer fee in world soccer at the time. The fee was €44 million ($61.9 billion). Shevchenko scored just nine league goals in two seasons at Chelsea and was released in 2009.
At the time, Jose Mourinho was the manager who signed Shevchenko. But Mourinho didn’t want Shevchenko. He was against the signing. But even Mourinho couldn’t overcome Roman Abramovich, the “absolute power” at Chelsea. Shevchenko was Abramovich’s creation. He was a fan of Shevchenko and insisted on signing him despite Mourinho’s objections. This is how one of the worst ‘betting scandals’ in world soccer history emerged.
The UK’s Mirror revealed why Mourinho was against Shevchenko. ”Mourinho didn”t want Shevchenko. Shevchenko was recruited by Abramovich, not Mourinho,” the publication reported.
“The 29-year-old Shevchenko is the kind of striker most managers would have wanted. But not Mourinho. The Ukrainian 메이저사이트 icon, who scored 173 goals for AC Milan, was brought to Chelsea by Abramovich. He failed here,” he added.
He also included a quote from Mourinho in the past. ”Shevchenko was a prince at AC Milan. At Chelsea, there was no prince. The philosophy at Chelsea was different. We couldn’t accept a prince. All players had to work equally, and all players had to prove their worth in training to play. Perhaps Shevchenko lost confidence in this atmosphere. Shevchenko went in the wrong direction,” he said.
The outlet went on to explain that Paul Pogba was another player Mourinho didn’t want. Mourinho had a strong midfield when he took over at Manchester United, so he didn’t need Pogba. Mourinho didn’t need Pogba either. There was no tactical advantage. But the club was forced to buy Pogba for marketing reasons, for advertising reasons.
Mourinho failed, but United succeeded. According to the outlet, United recouped their £89 million ($152.7 million) transfer fee for Pogba just six months after signing him.
