Chelsea should fear Jose Mourinho’s pull on former players

Jose Mourinho has always had a cult of personality amongst former players. Chelsea should fear that pull as he looks to strengthen Manchester United.

Some managers are so good at what they do that players will follow them anywhere. Jose Mourinho is one of those managers. Players under him past and present have almost universal praise for Mourinho.

That becomes a concern for clubs that formerly had Mourinho. Most recently (and according to Mourinho himself), Nemanja Matic forced his move away from Chelsea to play under The Special One again. Mourinho has also made it no secret that he would like to have Willian at Manchester United. Chelsea should fear the pull he has on players.

To begin with, Matic told Mourinho months before his transfer that he wanted to make the move. That was when Chelsea were in the midst of a title hunt of which Matic was a main player.

So if a player can be vital to a squad, about to win the Premier League, and still wants to leave, what does that say about the power Mourinho has?

Then there is Willian who Mourinho is mentioning his interest in. That rumor has been about since last summer. But if Willian wants him and can use his pull on the Brazilian, what are Chelsea to do? They could refuse any bid but that would be unlikely given Chelsea’s history of letting players go once an adequate bid comes in.

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But the real worry the Blues should have is who else feels the pull of the Special One. If Mourinho told the United board he wanted Eden Hazard and he contacted Hazard about a move, would Hazard try to force that move?

That is the fear Chelsea need to have. If a former manager has such a strong pull on players, then there is little the club can do. And it should create a fear of any new managers with strong personalities.

The club create a distance between the manager and the players but that would ultimately be counter productive. At some level, the manager needs to have a relationship with the players. For managers such as Mourinho, that turns into revenant loyalty.

But it also says something about Mourinho himself to be able to pull these players in. At some point, he would have had to confirm the interest in Matic and Willian. Knowing the pull he has, he would have known that it would undermine his former club.

Mourinho’s legacy is standing on rockier and rockier ground as time goes on. Pursuit of former players, especially when it weakens Chelsea, further taints the formerly pristine visage. With Matic, it could have jeopardized a title chase. That is simply dastardly and should not be tolerated.

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But it is unlikely to change until Mourinho ceases to have players at Chelsea. That process has already begun and by the end of the next manager it should be complete. Until then, Chelsea will be looking over their shoulder wondering when someone will ask to rejoin Mourinho.