Jose Mourinho reveals Roman Abramovich vetoed his dream Chelsea transfer in favour of flop Andriy Shevchenko

JOSE MOURINHO has revealed ex-Chelsea chief Roman Abramovich vetoed his bid to sign Samuel Eto’o in 2006. The legendary former Blues boss was part of a golden era at Stamford Bridge after winning back to back Prem titles in 2005 and 2006. Jose Mourinho has revealed Roman Abramovich blocked his dream signing at Chelsea Credit: AFP Mourinho wanted to sign Barcelona star Samuel Eto’o but the Russian vetoed the move Credit: EPA The Special One oversaw a host of big-name transfers during his three years in west London as the likes of Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and Michael Essien arrived. But things started unravelling at the start of Mourinho‘s third season and the Portuguese coach has shed light on a disagreement with Russian chief Abramovich. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! He said Abramovich was pushing for Andriy Shevchenko because of their “connections”, but insisted he “never wanted to sign him”. Instead, he was after highly-rated Eto’o, who had just scored 34 goals for Barcelona ahead of the 2006-07 season. Speaking in his Netflix documentary Mourinho, the 63-year-old said: “Abramovich has an incredible passion for football, but he had a complete lack of understanding of the situation. “Shevchenko was on the negotiating table because of his connections with the boss, his connections with agents, and I never wanted to sign him, but I never told anyone, so that’s also my responsibility. “Do you want to know which player I wanted? Samuel Eto’o.” Chelsea eventually snapped up Shevchenko in a £30million deal from AC Milan in May 2006, but the Ukrainian had mixed fortunes at the club. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK He ended up getting Andriy Shevchenko after Abramovich pushed to sign him from AC Milan Credit: Getty Mourinho did eventually manage Eto’o at Chelsea when he returned to the club in 2013 Credit: Getty Play Dream Team this season! £100,000 in prize money up for grabs in 2026/27 Free to enter Play in Mini Leagues against your mates £60,000 jackpot for the overall winner £1,000 prize for winning Gameweek 1 PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW! He scored just four goals in the Prem in his first season in 2006-07, but did grab 14 strikes in all competitions. Mourinho ended up leaving just over a year later before joining Inter Milan. He did get the chance to manage Eto’o at the Italian club as his 16 goals helped fire the team to Champions League success. Mourinho secured a 3-1 aggregate win over old club Chelsea along the way and Mourinho admitted he was playing for “revenge” against Abramovich. He said: “Honestly, I was playing against Roman that game. “I was playing against a guy that sacked me. I go home happy and he goes home upset. “Because I know how much he loved Chelsea, I know how much he loves to win. “But I needed revenge, because football belongs to people like me. The other ones are the intruders that don’t belong. “Football belongs to the players, belongs to the coaches, belongs to the fans. Football will always belong to us.” Mourinho finally got his chance to manage at Eto’o at Chelsea when he returned to Stamford Bridge in 2013, but by that point the Cameroonian was well past his prime. He only mustered nine Premier League goals and 13 in all competitions as Chelsea finished third, before the striker left for Everton. Comment now