Jose Mourinho aims Man City jibe amid Chelsea homecoming and FA charges

Jose Mourinho has taken a cheeky swipe at Manchester City when asked about Chelsea's 74 charges from the Football Association. Chelsea have been hit with charges by the governing body over alleged breaches of its regulations concerning dealings with football agents, intermediaries and third-party investment in players.

The charges span from 2009 to 2022 and mainly cover the period between the 2010/11 and 2015/16 campaigns. Meanwhile, there is a separate matter involving City, who were charged in February 2023 over historical breaches of the Premier League's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules between 2009 and 2018.

City have vehemently denied all charges and, alongside the English top-flight, are still awaiting the outcome of an independent commission hearing.

READ MORE: Jose Mourinho shares brutally honest Chelsea verdict ahead of Champions League reunion

READ MORE: Luis Diaz issues cryptic claim after Liverpool exit - 'Also help their team-mates'

Now, former Blues manager Mourinho has weighed in on Chelsea's 74 charges - making reference to City's case when questioned about it ahead of his Benfica side's clash with Enzo Maresca's team on Tuesday.

"Not Man City? I've no idea. I've no idea about it. I've no idea what the charges are, I will try to understand," he said at Monday's pre-match press conference.

Whilst Mourinho is thrilled to return to a stadium that holds great significance for him, he remains entirely concentrated on helping Benfica pull off a surprise result.

He said: "Of course I will always be a blue. I'm part of their history and they are part of mine.

"I helped them to become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me to become a bigger Jose. When I say I'm not a blue, I'm talking about the job I have to do tomorrow. There are not many clubs that do these pictures.

"There is a fear in many clubs about what happened in the past. Sometimes it looks like they want to delete people who made history in the clubs. This shows Chelsea are a big club."

Mourinho has also been impressed with the job Maresca has done since becoming Chelsea head coach in the summer of 2024.

"Honestly, I don't know the model," he added. "I never studied their model.

"There was a set period where myself, from the outside, was putting some question marks [on it] because it looked like Chelsea had lost their identity as a club. But what happened in the last season got things back on track.

"They gave trust to Enzo and gave his ideas. He's fitted in well with the philosophy of the club."

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.