Mourinho tried to stab Perez in the back by taking Neymar to Chelsea

Jose Mourinho and Florentino Perez’s relationship didn’t end well. Not at all. Evidence of that is in the fact the Portuguese coach, while still Real Madrid manager, tried to rob Neymar from his own president. 

In April of 2013, Barça and Madrid were both trying to sign the Brazilian forward. Perez was employing as many as 15 people in an attempt to get the signing done. In the offices at Chamartin they knew that Barcelona had the player tied down since 2011, but there were prepared to do everything, including pay Barça 40 million euros to Barça, to break the deal agreed by the company owned by Neymar’s dad and the Catalan club. 

The then Santos forward was seen by Sandro Rosell as the natural heir to Lionel Messi, while Perez saw him as the long-term replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Mourinho had inside information about what Madrid had been attempting for months. At this point, the relationship between the manager and his president had broken. The Portuguese coach had decided to leave Los Blancos and had no problem getting to work on his new professional challenge: his return to Chelsea. 

Through his agent, Jorge Mendes, Mourinho acquired Neymar’s phone number and called him to convince him to sign for Chelsea. The young Brazilian was stunned that, without any prior warning from an intermediary, he heard the voice of Mourinho on the other end of the phone line. 

The manager said that he would take over at Chelsea and he wanted the then 21-year-old to become a key part of his new project. He explained that Roman Abramovich would do what it took to make the deal possible. Ney, who had already agreed to move to Barcelona, was grateful for the call and said that he would speak with his father, who manages his career.

Mou’s attempt didn’t work. The Neymars were set on signing for Barcelona.