Why I rejected Chelsea, Mourinho – Joaquin

Real Betis great Joaquin has recalled turning down Chelsea in 2005.

Jose Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea at the time.

Advertisement

Joaquin told AS: “First, because I didn’t want to leave Betis.

“A week before we had played at the Bernabeu against England. I had a great match and Jose was there, he was interested.

“A few days later I recorded an advertisement in Madrid and when I returned on the AVE [high-speed rail], my father tells me that Mourinho is in Seville, waiting for me at the Alfonso XIII hotel.

“And I’m on the train thinking about England, the weather, the language… I made a cocoa and when I arrived, I told to my father: ‘Dad, I’m not going’. Anyway, he’s going to convince me, I thought.

“And I did not go. The next day Mourinho returned and [Manuel Ruiz de] Lopera [former Real Betis chairman] told me that I had to sell myself for the future of the club. I answered no.”

Advertisement