Chelsea will soon relinquish a key part of Jose Mourinho’s legacy back to its rightful owner.
The former Blues boss – ranked at no.5 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League managers ever – who won three Premier League titles at Stamford Bridge, enjoyed two spells at the club from 2004-2007 and again in 2013-2015.
But ever since his arrival in England, Mourinho signed away a key commercial aspect that not many will have ever been aware of.
What have Chelsea and Jose Mourinho been squabbling over for the last two decades?
Arriving off the back of his Champions League success with Porto in 2004, Mourinho signed a three-year deal at Chelsea and is still recognised as one of the most influential managers in English football.
‘The Special One’ won eight trophies with the Blues but hierarchy at the club slyly agreed a deal to tie Jose into a whopping 20-year agreement that will finally expire this week. So what it is you may ask?
According to Mail Sport, Mourinho relinquished control of his name to the club upon arriving back in 2025.
That agreement meant Chelsea could freely use Mourinho’s trademark to sell whatever they pleased in their megastore, which included mugs, dolls and t-shirts.
It was even suggested in 2016 when he moved to fellow Premier League side Manchester United that the Red Devils would have to pay a six-figure sum for a license to use his name and sell products online and in their official megastore.
But as of tomorrow, Friday 4 April, the trademark will end and it will return to Jose.
That means Chelsea will no longer have ownership of his name and therefore will not be able to advertise branded merchandise of their former boss.
His signature, however, is another different story, with Mourinho having to wait until November until that trademark is handed back to its rightful owner.
In FourFourTwo’s view, Chelsea were probably right to slap a trademark on Mourinho given how big his career has become over the last 20 years. A win-win in many aspects!
The Blues are in Premier League action this evening, as Enzo Maresca’s side takes on Tottenham Hotspur.
