"For a long time, we knew," Mourinho began. "We didn’t tell because of a moral agreement with him but from the first day I arrived, he told me he was not going to sign.
"For me, to try to have still a player without great motivations but still a player with a good sense of professionalism and respect for the club to give us what he could."
" Christian told me the decision was made and no way [did I try to persuade him]. From that moment, I was just trying to build the team without him.
"That was the reason why I didn’t play him many, many times. At the same time, Christian being a good professional and having respect for the club and his teammates I knew that with some limitations – there are always limitations with a player in his situation – that until his last day he tried to help the team and be a positive guy in the dressing room, which he was."
"Christian would always give us some of his talent until the end of the season," he added. "He is a good professional, respect to the club, respect to the dressing room, if he stayed here I think he would always give us something."