Conte defends Mourinho’s decision to sell De Bruyne, Lukaku

Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has defended Jose Mourinho’s decision to allow Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku leave Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho this week questioned Louis van Gaal’s decision to sell Angel Di Maria, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez and Danny Welbeck when he was Manchester United manager.

Conte was asked on Friday whether Mourinho made a mistake in offloading De Bruyne and Lukaku, both of whom have gone on to have significant success with Manchester City and Everton respectively.

“It’s always very difficult to take always the best decision,” he said.

“Sometimes it can happen that you think one thing and then, in the future, something else happens. A different situation.

“I think, above all, in football it’s not simple to give always a correct evaluation for players.

“Sometimes a player who, in the last two years or so, didn’t play well goes on to have a fantastic season. That happens. But it’s not right to talk about mistakes.”