Jose Mourinho worked with some talented youngsters across his two spells as Chelsea's manager. Most of those players fizzled out soon enough but Jose tipped three to succeed and even go on to play for England.
The year was 2014 and Mourinho was preparing his team for the new season. Just before the preseason tour, Mourinho bragged that Dominic Solanke (16), Isaiah Brown (17) and Lewis Baker (19) will not only succeed at Chelsea but also go on to become full internationals for the Three Lions of England.
"My conscience tells me that if, for example, Baker, Brown, and Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself," Mourinho said.
"They are part of a process the club started without me. In this moment, we have players who will be Chelsea players. And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure.
"At 16 or 17 I don’t think it’s good for them to go somewhere else to play, like in the Championship. At 17 they have to train with us and they have to learn with us. They will learn a lot," Mourinho added.
Here's what happened next...
Izzy Brown (retired): He's only 26 but the English attacker has been forced into early retirement owning to plaguing injuries. What's more, he only played one senior game under Mourinho in the 2014/15 season.
Lewis Baker (captains Stoke): After making just 2 appearances in 8 years for Chelsea, the midfielder currently plays in the Championship where he leads Stoke City. At least the 27-year-old plays regular football nowadays with 44 games, 8 goals and 5 assists this season.
Dominic Solanke (leads Bournemouth attack): The striker is the most popular of the trio as he currently plays in the Premier League. However, his goal return of five in 26 games leaves a lot to be desired. Last season, he registered 30 goals in 48 games playing in the Championship so we can assume that's probably his best level.
Apparently, Mourinho got his prediction all wrong as none of the players he tipped stood any chance of playing for the England senior team.
