Jose Mourinho: Claim of 49 academy products falls flat as Manchester United manager includes bizarre choices
Mourinho branded the perception that he blocks developing players 'a lie', but his defence doesn't quite stand up
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Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho’s claim that he has developed 49 academy graduates into first-team players led the new Manchester United manager to label the idea that he blocks emerging talent as “One lie repeated many times”.
However, while the new United boss arrived at his first press conference since replacing Louis van Gaal with ammunition to fight his corner, his claim has already been scrutinised after it was revealed that just 11 of the 49 Mourinho claimed to have developed had played a total of 90 minutes or more under the Portuguese.
After a glass of water was accidentally knocked over Mourinho’s list of players, smudging the ink beyond recognition, the club elected to email out Mourinho’s list of players. By this point, the list had extended to 55 players, with Arjen Robben, John Obi Mikel, Lassana Diara, Marko Arnautovic, Raphael Varane and Kurt Zouma mysteriously added to it.
That they had played for Mourinho while under the age of 21 was deemed enough to go onto Mourinho’s academy graduate list, though as The Guardian revealed, the validity of Mourinho’s claim was already in question.
A total of 13 players had actually made their debuts for other clubs before being signed by Mourinho, though that did not stop the likes of Carles Alberto, Arjen Robben and Kurt Zouma – who played 43, 102 and 73 matches respectively before linking up with Mourinho – being included.
Beyond that, 18 others (and 19 in total) made just one appearance under Mourinho’s guidance and the full extent of the farce left Mourinho looking foolish for his defence against the perception that he blocks the progression of young footballers who have shown potential at the top clubs.
Below is a chart of all 55 players that Mourinho claimed he brought through during his spells with Benfica, Uniao De Leira, Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and his subsequent return to Stamford Bridge.The most bemusing inclusions came in the additions of Robben, Zouma and Varane, who all made their name at other clubs before joining Chelsea. Robben made more than 100 appearances for Groningen and PSV Eindhoven and had already broken into the Netherlands side, while Zouma had spent three seasons in the Saint Etienne side, playing over 70 matches for the Ligue 1 outfit.
| Player | Games before Mourinho | Games for Mourinho |
| Benfica | 0 |
|
| Diogo Luis | 0 | 26 |
| Geraldo Alves | 0 | 5 |
| Uniao De Leiria |
|
|
| Nuno Laranjeiro | 0 | 1 |
| Joao Paulo | 0 | 17 |
| Porto |
|
|
| Carlos Alberto | 43 | 22 |
| Bruno Moraes | 2 | 7 |
| Pedro Oliveira | 0 | 1 |
| Reinaldo | 0 | 1 |
| Joca | 0 | 2 |
| Hugo Luz | 0 | 2 |
| Chelsea |
|
|
| Arjen Robben | 102 | 67 |
| Lassana Diarra | 29 | 13 |
| John Obi Mikel | 2 | 51 |
| Sam Hutchinson | 0 | 1 |
| Jimmy Smith | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Woods | 0 | 2 |
| Anthony Grant | 0 | 1 |
| Ben Sahar | 0 | 5 |
| Steven Watt | 0 | 1 |
| Lenny Pidgeley | 0 | 2 |
| Inter Milan |
|
|
| Davide Santon | 0 | 28 |
| Marko Arnautovic | 44 | 8 |
| Alen Stefanovic | 0 | 1 |
| Mario Balotelli | 17 | 71 |
| Luca Caldirola | 0 | 0 |
| Giulio Donati | 0 | 1 |
| Rene Krhin | 0 | 5 |
| Real Madrid |
|
|
| Raphael Varane | 24 | 48 |
| Alvaro Morata | 0 | 18 |
| Casemiro | 81 | 2 |
| Nacho | 0 | 16 |
| Jese | 0 | 2 |
| Joselu | 30 | 2 |
| Tomas Mejias | 0 | 1 |
| Omar Mascarell | 0 | 1 |
| Fabinho | 0 | 1 |
| Pedro Mendes | 37 | 1 |
| Jose Rodriguez | 0 | 4 |
| Denis Cheryshev | 0 | 1 |
| Sarabia | 0 | 1 |
| Juan Carlos | 0 | 1 |
| Diego llorente | 0 | 2 |
| Alex Fernandez | 0 | 2 |
| David Mateos | 0 | 2 |
| Jesus | 5 | 2 |
| Antonio Adan | 0 | 18 |
| Fernando Pacheco Flores | 0 | 1 |
| Jorge Casado | 0 | 1 |
| Chelsea |
|
|
| Kurt Zouma | 73 | 48 |
| Lewis Baker | 0 | 1 |
| Dominic Solanke | 0 | 1 |
| John Swift | 0 | 1 |
| Ruben Loftus-Cheek | 0 | 8 |
| Andreas Christensen | 0 | 3 |
| Bertrand Traore | 0 | 3 |
The most bemusing inclusions came in the additions of Robben, Zouma and Varane, who all made their name at other clubs before joining Chelsea. Robben made more than 100 appearances for Groningen and PSV Eindhoven and had already broken into the Netherlands side, while Zouma had spent three seasons in the Saint Etienne side, playing over 70 matches for the Ligue 1 outfit.
Varane, who cost Mourinho £8m when he signed him for Real Madrid, played 23 times for Lens before heading to Spain in 2011.
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