You don't sell to your rivals...Unless your Jose Mourino

Football is full of clichéd sayings and Do’s and Don’ts. One prominent one is ‘You don’t sell to your rivals’ Jose Mourinho has just gone and broken that. Some people are questioning Mourinho actions over allowing Juan Mata's £37m transfer (a player who has arguably been Chelsea’s best player for the last two seasons) to Manchester United.

Are United seen as rivals to Chelsea at this present moment or in the future? I believe Mourinho thinks not. Earlier on in the Season Mourinho said he didn’t allow the sell of Demba Ba to Arsenal, as he believed they would be serious title contenders with the addition of Demba Ba after already buying Mesut Ozil.

Had it been Manchester City or Arsenal bidding for Mata, then it would have been a different story Mourinho would have simply not sold to them. With the sale of Mata to United, it shows you how far United have fallen. Mata is a player with high quality a genuine number 10 who is a genuine match winner. At times over the last two seasons he has dragged Chelsea through games.  

So the fact that Mourinho would allow him to go to United shows you that not only does he not see United as rivals now but also he doesn’t see them as rivals in the foreseeable future. As Mata alone will not solve the problems at United.