Mohamed Salah and Kevin de Bruyne have one thing in common - they were both unwanted by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

Salah and De Bruyne have been, without doubt, the two best players in the Premier League this season for Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.

And Mourinho must be feeling a little bit foolish after not giving the duo a chance while he was in charge at Stamford Bridge.

While there’s no doubt he sold De Bruyne as Chelsea boss, Mourinho has tried to distance himself from getting rid of Salah while at the club.

"People say that I was the one that sold Salah and it is the opposite," Mourinho told ESPN recently. "I bought Salah.

"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."

It’s hardly surprising that Mourinho is denying any involvement in Salah leaving Chelsea considering the season the Egyptian is having.

Salah has picked up awards for PFA Player of the Year, the Football Writers', the Premier League Player of the Season and the Premier League Golden Boot already this season.

He could yet land himself a Champions League trophy as well.

But it seems Mourinho doesn’t begrudge Salah’s success.

That’s because the Liverpool star has revealed the first thing Mourinho said to him after his arrival back in England ahead of the Reds vs Manchester United.

"I did meet him twice – in our match here at Anfield [Liverpool vs Manchester United] and in the other match in Manchester,” Salah told Egypt Today.

"He told me that he is happy with what I am doing. So, I thanked him. We didn't talk much; I just said 'hi' to him and he told me that he was happy for me."

That’s class from Mourinho.

Liverpool and United clashed at Anfield back in October just days after Salah fired Egypt to the World Cup with a dramatic penalty.

And Mourinho could also be seen congratulating him for his heroics on that day.

However, the Portuguese boss prevented Salah from scoring in both fixtures against United this season - a stat that only two managers could boast this season.