by Lee Hurley
Jose Mourinho has said that he supports Roman Abramovich’s decision to sell Petr Cech to Arsenal just weeks after saying he wouldn’t sell him to Arsenal.
The Chelsea manager is well known in the game for talking out of his arse and it’s not unheard of for him to contradict himself on a regular basis.
Speaking to the official Chelsea website after the move, Mourinho said “I support the owner’s decision to honour the player in this way.
“Petr has been a great servant for Chelsea for 11 years and helped this club to win almost everything there is to win. I always said I wanted him to stay but I understand Petr needed to move on to play first-team football every week.
“Sometimes you have to respect the wishes of someone who has earned so much respect with his service and actions for your club. It is very rare in football to make a decision like this and for that reason I am proud of my club for making it. There are not many clubs in the world big enough to be able to make that decision. Petr’s success at this club will always to be remembered and we thank him for everything he did.”
However, before the move happened, he told the magazine Match, “It’s not up to me, it’s up to the owner. Roamn Abramovich is a person with a perspective that I admire a lot. He respects the people that do important things for his, and obviously Petr has given 10 years of success to the club. I would have to accept the owner’s decision, but I know what I would say. I have the same respect for Petr as everyone else at the club but my answer would be no way. Or in every club that’s interested in him, I can find a player I like in that team too.”
He did find a player that he liked at Arsenal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but there was no way the Gunners were going to sell him to that lot.
He is right about one thing though, it was a big decision from the owner of the club to allow Cech to join whatever club he wanted. There aren’t many who would have agreed to that sort of thing but, as well know too well, Arsenal are one of them.