Wenger: Jose was quality boss

Wenger: Praise for Mourinho

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Arsene Wenger has praised the 'quality' of Jose Mourinho and believes his exit from Chelsea is 'sad'.

The Portuguese left The Blues on Thursday after a break down in his relationship with the club's hierarchy.

Premier League bosses have been queuing up to pay tribute to Mourinho and Arsenal chief Wenger has offered his verdict.

"It is basically sad because I feel Mourinho is a manager of quality," Wenger told the club's official website.

"I am a great believer in technical stability and therefore I don't think it is good news for football."

Respect

On their fractious relationship Wenger added: "We didn't get on the best, but recently it has become better.

"That does not hide the fact I respected what he did and the quality of his work.

"Of course he is a great manager. He arrived when Chelsea were on the way up; they had a good side already and he did something more and made them winners.

"He deserves a lot of credit for that because it is never easy to win and in England it is maybe more difficult."

Talented coach

Wenger is also keen to see how Mourinho's replacement Avram Grant fares in the role of Chelsea manager.

The Frenchman added: "I know him very well from Israel. I have very good relations with Avram.

"When he was manager of Israel he visited some clubs and he came here through some common connections we had and since we have had very good relations.

"He is a very talented coach. I don't know if he is just filling in or will take over for the longer term, but we will see what kind of changes he makes."