Jose Mourinho Picks His Top 3 Players Of All Time…Maradona, Pele, Messi, ignored Ronaldo! [Daily Express]

Jose Mourinho has picked his top three players of all time and has left out compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo. The manager picked Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Pele as his top three and to many people’s surprise, did not include Ronaldo.

When asked to pick, Mourinho said (via Daily Express):


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“For me the top three players in history are Messi, Pele and Maradona.”

Since then, the statement has gone viral on Twitter and even Mourinho’s son retweeted the quote too. The Spanish media have also picked up on the notable absence and many people are shocked to see that the Real Madrid forward, who played under Mourinho for three seasons, was not included.

Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or under Mourinho’s management at Real Madrid in 2012 and seemed as though he got on well with the manager during the time they spent together. However, Mourinho has surely tarnished his relationship with the player after leaving him out of his top three players list. The exclusion is unlikely to sit well with the Real fans too, who of course will be angry that Mourinho included Barcelona’s Lionel Messi over Ronaldo in his top three.Perhaps another surprise exclusion is Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, someone who Mourinho recently brought to Manchester United, and is known to have a good friendship and a strong bond with.


“Zlatan needs no introduction. The statistics speak for themselves,” Mourinho stated after unveiling the signing of Zlatan at Manchester United.

“Ibra is one of the best strikers in the world and a player who always gives 100 per cent.”