Former Chelsea FC goal machine Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink revealed on August 25, 2022 that he was never happy after Roman Abramovich took over the London-based club.
Speaking on BBC’s Proper Football Podcast, Hasselbaink disclosed that as soon as Abramovich acquired the club, the then manager Claudio Ranieri brought in two strikers in a bid to replace him.
"That was where the relationship with me and Ranieri went a little bit sour.
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"All of a sudden he (Ranieri) had a lot of money to spend. He called me and Eidur Gudjohnsen into his office. He said, 'I'm going to bring in two new strikers - you guys can go if you want'," he was quoted by BBC Sport.
This happened despite him being the EPL top scorer in the 2000/2001 EPL campaign. He scored 23 and 18 goals respectively for Chelsea in each of those seasons.
When Mourinho joined Chelsea in 2004, Hasselbaink was forced to leave Stamford Bridge on a free transfer.
He divulged that forces within the club told Mourinho that he was an uncooperative player.
"I was absolutely gutted. More gutted because Mourinho never spoke to me.
"I bet you that Mourinho had been told that I was a difficult lad who was hard to work with and all that kind of stuff - which was not the case at all,” stated Hasselbaink.
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The former Netherlands international added that Mourinho's decision denied him a chance of winning a trophy with the Blues.
“I've spoken to Mourinho, he said, 'yes, I made a mistake there.' I don't care what he said. He should have kept me and I would have had a medal.
"He's a brilliant coach, absolutely magnificent what he's done in football, but he was never the special one for me." he lamented.
Hasselbaink joined Chelsea in July, 2000 from Atletico Madrid. The former paid £15m (Approximately Ksh2.1 billion), in the process equalling the EPL record transfer set by Newcastle in 1996.
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