Jose Mourinho loves a three-finger gesture.
When Chelsea supporters gave Mourinho a harsh welcome on his return to Stamford Bridge earlier this month, the Manchester United manager responded by showing his former fans three fingers, denoting the three titles he won during his time in charge of the Blues.
Mourinho did not take kindly to the reaction he got when United drew 2-2 with Chelsea but the Portuguese insisted that he will not goad supporters of any of his former clubs.
“I did not get respect back from Chelsea [fans] but that is not my responsiblity,” Mourinho said two weeks ago.
“What I did here today I will do in Madrid, in Milan, in Porto, the reaction from the fans is not up to me.”
A few days after the Chelsea drama, Mourinho again resorted to his three-finger salute when Juventus supporters gave him abuse in the Champions League.
Mourinho responded by seemingly reminding Juve fans of the treble he won during his second season in Serie A.
Mourinho’s gesture has been covered extensively in the media and there’s a theory now doing the rounds which suggests that Chelsea are mocking their ex-manager.
Several Chelsea players have mimicked Mourinho’s gesture in recent months while on-loan midfielder Mateo Kovacic’s winky face after celebrating three out of three didn’t go unnoticed.
https://twitter.com/Mateo_Kova23/status/1055762919626076161
https://twitter.com/DeanMrharris/status/1055584216430317569
Ross Barkley is the first Englishman to score in three consecutive @PremierLeague games for the Blues since Frank Lampard, back in 2013! 👏 #BURCHE pic.twitter.com/5dcJarfh3S
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 28, 2018
The countdown to #WHUCHE is on!
Three hours to go now… pic.twitter.com/iH0iYaMAMI
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 23, 2018
Sure, Ross Barkley is the first Englishman to score in three consecutive Premier League games for Chelsea since Frank Lampard and sure, Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored a hat-trick in the Europa League but it’s too much of a coincidence for some fans to handle.
Ross getting in on the Mourinho salute ????
— javed ???????? (@javedbashir7) October 28, 2018
The Mou Salute. Three
— Messi’s Girl ? (@kwasisakyii) October 28, 2018
The Mourinho salute
Cheek did the same ?— Sammuel ? (@_kwekusammy) October 30, 2018
Is he friends with Jose and is that a hand sign a special code…. ?
— Danny Regan (@DJJJR4) October 29, 2018
If this is to mock #mourinho this is utterly disgraceful to the person who made this club today what it is proud to be @ManUtd fan I don’t think #mourinho will get booed at old Trafford sad to see ppl not respect their own legends
— Pranay Wankhede (@pranay_w) October 31, 2018
