Jose Mourinho explains why Chelsea sold Kevin De Bruyne & Mohamed Salah

Jose Mourinho described Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah as «kids who did not want to wait» as he explained Chelsea's decision to sell both players.

Chelsea signed De Bruyne from Genk for £7m in January 2012 but the Belgian midfielder would make just nine appearances, all of which came under Mourinho, before joining Wolfsburg for £18m two years later.

Five days after selling De Bruyne, Chelsea announced the £11m signing of Salah, but the Egyptian winger managed just 19 outings of his own under Mourinho before joining Roma permanently for £15m in the summer of 2016.

Both players ultimately made their way back to the Premier League, with De Bruyne joining Manchester City and Salah signing for Liverpool, and the duo have since earned reputations as two of the greatest players of their generation.

Asked how Chelsea let such a glut of talent slip through their fingers, Mourinho told : «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 went on to reject suggestions he gave up on the two players and claimed he tried to keep both Salah and De Bruyne at Chelsea.

Beginning with Salah, Mourinho said: «When people say I let Salah go, I say exactly the opposite. I bought Salah. I was the one who said 'buy that guy'. He was going from Basel to Liverpool, and I made a fight, I made a war, to make him come to Chelsea.

»Then comes the part when, to be a Chelsea player, you have to