‘I became a cult hero at Chelsea – then Jose Mourinho sold me without a call’ | Football
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink opened up about his departure from Chelsea and said he never even received a phone call from manager Jose Mourinho before he was sold.
Having made a name for himself in the Premier League at Leeds United, Hasselbaink spent a year at Atletico Madrid before returning to the English top-flight with Chelsea.
The £15m fee paid to Atletico matched the then British transfer record but the Dutch striker quickly proved his worth at Stamford Bridge with a goal on his league debut against London rivals West Ham.
And following the arrival of Claudio Ranieri, Hasselbaink kicked on another gear, forming a deadly partnership with Eidur Gudjohnsen as he scored 46 league goals in his first two seasons at the club.
While his output slowed down in the following two seasons, Hasselbaink was still the club’s top scorer in the 2003-04 season but saw his Chelsea future thrown into doubt following the sacking of Ranieri.
With Jose Mourinho arriving from Porto, and Didier Drogba joining him from Marseille, Hasselbaink was quickly deemed suprlus to requirements and left the west London club to join Middlesbrough.
Reflecting back on his departure from Chelsea, Hasselbaink admitted that he was taken aback by Mourinho’s lack of decency and failure to even call him before he was let go.
‘Jose [Mourinho] came to the club in 2004 and basically said that I could go,’ the 52-year-old told BetMGM’s The LineUp.
‘There wasn’t a phone call or anything like that from him. Peter Kenyon [then Chelsea chief executive] called my agent but that was about it.
‘I would have loved Jose to have had the decency to have called me to explain it but that’s football and these things happen.’
However, Hasselbaink revealed that the two have crossed paths again more recently, with Mourinho apologising for the way he treated the striker that summer.
‘I’ve seen him since and he’s apologised and said he shouldn’t have done it like he did,’ the Dutchman added.
‘Football is a game of opinions and sometimes managers just don’t fancy you.
‘I went to Middlesbrough and scored 18 goals that season so I still had a lot to offer, but he wanted a new striker and they got [Didier] Drogba.’
After two years at Middlesbrough, Hasselbaink then spent a season at Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City respectively before retiring from professional football.
The striker ended his career with an impressive 249 goals in 591 appearances, including a a fantastic record of 87 goals in 177 matches whilst at Chelsea.
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