Jose Mourinho takes aim at Man City with charges jibe as Chelsea face FA decision

Chelsea have been charged by the FA over alleged breaches of the governing body's regulations on working with football agents, intermediaries and third party investment in players

Jose Mourinho has delivered a playful dig at Manchester City whilst discussing Chelsea's 74 charges from the Football Association.

Chelsea have been hit with charges by the governing body over alleged breaches of regulations concerning dealings with football agents, intermediaries and third party investment in players. The charges span from 2009 to 2022 and predominantly cover the period between the 2010/11 and 2015/16 campaigns.

Meanwhile, there remains a separate case involving City, who were charged in February 2023 regarding historical violations of the Premier League's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations between 2009 and 2018. City have vehemently rejected all allegations and, alongside the English top flight, continue to await the verdict of an independent commission hearing.

Now, former Chelsea manager Mourinho has offered his thoughts on the 74 charges confronting his old side - making reference to City's situation when questioned about it ahead of his Benfica side's clash with Enzo Maresca's team on Tuesday.

"Not Man City? I've no idea. I've no idea about it. I've no idea what the charges are, I will try to understand," he said at Monday's pre-match press conference.

While Mourinho is delighted to return to a stadium that means a lot to him, he is completely focused on helping Benfica produce a shock.

He said: "Of course I will always be a blue. I'm part of their history and they are part of mine.

"I helped them to become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me to become a bigger Jose. When I say I'm not a blue, I'm talking about the job I have to do tomorrow. There are not many clubs that do these pictures.

"There is a fear in many clubs about what happened in the past. Sometimes it looks like they want to delete people who made history in the clubs. This shows Chelsea are a big club."

Mourinho has also expressed admiration for the work Maresca has done since taking over as Chelsea head coach in the summer of 2024.

"Honestly, I don't know the model," he added. "I never studied their model.

"There was a set period where myself, from the outside, was putting some question marks [on it] because it looked like Chelsea had lost their identity as a club. But what happened in the last season got things back on track.

"They gave trust to Enzo and gave his ideas. He's fitted in well with the philosophy of the club."

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