Jose Mourinho has hit back at those who blame him for selling Mohamed Salah during his time as Chelsea manager.
It was Mourinho - now in charge at Manchester United - who first brought the Egyptian star to the Premier League, signing the then 21 year-old from Basel in January 2014 for just £14 million.
However, Salah failed to make an impact Stamford Bridge, often used off the bench, and he was loaned out to Fiorentina before Roma signed him in the summer of 2016.
Salah has since returned to England with Liverpool, who paid a club-record fee of £36.5m, and the 25 year-old has more than paid back that fee in his first season at Anfield, winning the 2018 PFA Player of the Year award, scoring twice against former club Roma in Liverpool's 5-2 Champions League semi-final first-leg victory and he remains on course to break Ian Rush's Liverpool club record for goals in a season. He has scored 43 in all competitions this campaign and is being talked about as a serious Ballon d'Or contender.
This has led to Mourinho being labeled shortsighted in not giving Salah more time to develop at Chelsea and moving him on too quickly, but the Portuguese has hit back, describing such accusations as "lies" and "another injustice".
Speaking to ESPN Brazil, Mourinho said: "It is the first time that I am going to say this, but it is another injustice that has been talked about me.
"People say that I was the one that sold Salah and it is the opposite. I bought Salah. I was the one that told Chelsea to buy Salah. It was with me in charge that Salah came to Chelsea. But he came as a young kid, physically he was not ready, mentally he was not ready, socially and culturally he was lost and everything was tough for him.
"We decided to put him on loan and he asked for that as well. He wanted to play more minutes, to mature, he wanted to go and we sent him on loan to Fiorentina, and at Fiorentina he started to mature.
"Chelsea decided to sell him, OK? And when they say that I was the one that sold him it is a lie. I bought him. I agreed to send him on loan, I thought it was necessary, I thought that Chelsea had wingers. Some of them are still there like Willian, Eden Hazard and all those players already in a different level.
"Effectively I did buy Salah, I didn't sell Salah, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that he is a fantastic player, and I am really happy for everything that is happening for him and especially because he scores against everyone and he didn't score against us in two games."
Mourinho's comments in 2015 while he was Chelsea manager create a different impression, however.
He told Sky Sports: “I have five wingers, if I lose one maybe I am interested in another but at this moment I have balance and quality and numbers.
“I am looking for a defender to finish this balance in our squad and after that we are ready to answer anything that can happen to our players.”
“I see his future elsewhere,” Mourinho added. “Either on loan or sold with an offer we are happy to accept."