Mourinho Personal Phone Call Ends in Nightmare

They say bad luck comes in threes, and in the case of West Ham’s on-loan midfielder Edson Álvarez, that certainly seems to be true.

The Mexican was deemed surplus to requirements by Hammers boss Graham Potter, who spent much of the summer trying to offload the £34m signing from Ajax. Claret & Hugh were informed by a top source at the time that “the manager doesn’t think Álvarez can play his style of football”, and intermediaries were dispatched to find him a new club.

Álvarez spent weeks insisting he had no interest in moving to the only serious suitor—Fenerbahçe—before eventually agreeing to the switch.

Shortly before the 27-year-old was due to fly to Turkey for a medical, both Ajax and Porto declared late interest. Álvarez pulled out of boarding the plane, only to be left disappointed when neither club could meet the fees or wages required.

Mourinho’s personal plea

Then came a twist: José Mourinho personally called Álvarez and persuaded him to join his Fenerbahçe revolution, promising him a key role.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got. Mourinho was promptly sacked, leaving Álvarez in limbo. And to make matters worse, the midfielder has now suffered a hamstring injury ruling him out until October.

Talk about a nightmare run of luck.