'I bought them' - Mourinho debunks rumour he sold De Bruyne, Salah during his time at Chelsea

Legendary tactician, Jose Mourinho has opened up on the circumstances that led to the departure of Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah from Chelsea.

The two are widely regarded as some of the best to ever play in the Premier League, considering their successes at Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively.

De Bruyne joined Chelsea in 2012 from Belgian league side, K.R.C Genk, with Salah linking up with the Blues from Swiss outfit, FC Basel in 2014.

According to Sportbible, the duo had loan spells between their respective stints at Stamford Bridge before they eventually left permanently.

However, they later rejoined the English top flight, with De Bruyne joining City in 2015 while Salah signed for Liverpool a year later from AS Roma.

The pair's success away from Chelsea has often seen Mourinho come under immense criticism on why he let them go.

The Special One has now come out to set the record straight on what led to the departure of the two football stars from Chelsea.

Speaking on John Obi Mikel's Obi One podcast, the Portuguese veteran stated he had no hand in the duo's exit from Stamford Bridge.

"They left because they wanted to leave. They left because they didn’t want to wait. When people tell me, 'You let go 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 the fight to make him come to Chelsea," Mourinho added.

De Bruyne and Salah would both see their Chelsea departures as great moves, with both establishing themselves as superstars of the Premier League since.