Why ‘The Special One’ Jose Mourinho Joined Chelsea And Not Liverpool In 2004

The reason behind Jose Mourinho choosing Chelsea over Liverpool FC in 2004 has been revealed in the latest book on the life of "The Special One."

The book, titled "Mourinho: Behind the Special One, from the Origin to the Glory" written by French journalist Nicolas Vilas, has disclosed that Mourinho had agreed to replace Gerard Houllier as Liverpool boss in 2004. However, that did not happen as Chelsea and Roman Abramovich approached him with a much bigger offer.

The discussions between Mourinho and Liverpool also involved French agent, Bruno Satin. Everything was set as Mourinho had agreed to take charge of Anfield until agent Jorge Mendes intervened with a much bigger offer from Chelsea in comparison to the one from the Merseyside club.

In April 2004, Mourinho's Porto was due to face Lyon in the Champions League quarter-final and at the team hotel, Jorge Baidek, Mourinho's adviser at the time, held a meeting.

“Mourinho should have gone to Liverpool. Rick Parry (then chief executive) was in charge of transfers and we had an agreement. They asked us to wait for 15 days as Houllier was still the Reds' manager,” Baidek said, according to the book, ESPN reported.

On the eve of Porto’s Champions League semi-final fixture, Mourinho met Chelsea’s new owner, Abramovich. Another meeting took place between the two, this time on the Russian billionaire’s yacht in Monaco, the day after Mourinho’s Porto won the European tournament by defeating AS Monaco in the final at the Arena AufSchalke, Germany.

Mourinho then went on to manage Chelsea for the next three seasons from 2004 to 2007, winning two Premier League titles, a FA Cup trophy, two League Cups and a Community Shield title. The Portugal veteran returned to Chelsea for a second stint as he managed Chelsea for two campaigns between 2013 and 2015. This time, Mourinho could add only two trophies to his already decorated cabinet – a Premier League win and a League Cup trophy. Unfortunately, Mourinho failed to win the Champions League with Chelsea.