‘He was never the special one’ - Former striker criticises Jose Mourinho for Chelsea departure

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has chatted all things Jose Mourinho and Chelsea on the ‘Kammy & Ben’s Proper Football’ podcast.
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Former Chelsea forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has spoken about his relationship with Jose Mourinho during his time at Stamford Bridge.

The Dutchman joined the Blues in 2000 and had scored over 80 goals before the Portuguese manager arrived four years later and sent him packing to Middlesbrough.

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Speaking on Kammy & Ben’s Proper Football podcast, Hasselbaink expressed his frustration at his departure.

“I was absolutely gutted,” Hasselbaink says. “More gutted because Mourinho never spoke to me.

“I bet you that Mourinho had been told that I was a difficult lad,” Hasselbaink says, “hard to work with and all that kind of stuff - which was not the case at all.”

Hasselbaink went onto become Middlesbrough’s top scorer over the next two seasons, while Chelsea won two Premier League titles, two League Cups, the FA Cup and the Community Shield under Mourinho.

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The 50-year-old was left feeling like he had missed out on the opportunity to earn some silverware with his former club.

“They got Drogba - what a signing - but surely I could have featured alongside him,” Hasselbaink added.

“I’ve spoken to Mourinho, he said, ‘yes, I made a mistake there.’ I don’t care what he said. He should have kept me and I would have had a medal.”

The Burton Albion boss is one of the very few that will criticise Mourinho for his hugely successful first stint at Stamford Bridge, but he even went as far as to claim he didn’t live up to his nickname.

He said: “He’s a brilliant coach, absolutely magnificent what he’s done in football, but he was never the special one for me.”