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Jose reveals Chelsea regret

Mourinho was offered chance to quit Blues after FA Cup victory

Last updated: 29th August 2008

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Jose Mourinho admits he regrets not leaving Chelsea sooner having been offered the opportunity to quit the club after their FA Cup final victory over Manchester United last year.

His relationship with the club's board soured just a few months later and in September he left his role at Stamford Bridge by mutual consent.

Mourinho makes his return to management this season with Inter Milan but after spending much of last term in the wilderness, the Portuguese concedes he made a wrong decision with regards his Chelsea exit.

Speaking in a video released by Ford's FeelFootball.com, Mourinho said: "If there is a moment in my career where I regret a decision it was clearly the day after the FA Cup final - when my agent told me 'Club X' want you tomorrow and I told him no, I love it here and I don't want to go, I want to stay.

"That's the moment I regret. After that day, after that final, I should (have left) Chelsea and I would have the chance in Wembley to say goodbye to the fans and to say goodbye to English football.

"So that's a moment I regret because the next season lasted only a couple of months."

Fond memories

Mourinho, who led Chelsea to their first league title in 50 years in 2005 and built a strong rapport with the fans during three seasons at the club, insists he has only fond memories of his time in the capital.

"I only have friends in Chelsea and I have problems with nobody - but if I stayed there one, two, three, four more weeks probably in this moment I wouldn't say this.

"I love that club, I'm in the history of that club and I left the club in the right moment to feel like that and to say that honestly.

"So it was the right moment to do it. But clearly if I regret one decision in my career it's that decision of staying in Chelsea not one more season, staying in Chelsea a few more months."