Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has revealed that the club’s ex-manager, José Mourinho, apologized to him for his departure from Stamford Bridge. Hasselbaink explained that Mourinho had a clear vision of bringing Didier Drogba to Chelsea as the main striker, which led to Hasselbaink being sold.

In an interview, Hasselbaink, who joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in 2000 for £15 million, discussed how he had no prior communication from Mourinho before his exit. He was only informed of the decision when Peter Kenyon, Chelsea’s CEO at the time, contacted his agent.

Hasselbaink was a key figure at Chelsea, scoring 46 league goals in his first two seasons. However, after Mourinho’s arrival in 2004 and the subsequent signing of Drogba, Hasselbaink was deemed surplus to requirements and moved to Middlesbrough.

I would have loved Jose to have had the decency to have called me to explain it,” Hasselbaink admitted. “But that’s football, and these things happen.

After the move, Hasselbaink had an impressive season at Middlesbrough, scoring 18 goals. He added that Mourinho later apologized for the way the situation was handled.