‘I owe Jose a great deal, but first I have e to score against him’
AJAX danger man Bertrand Traore will go into the Europa League final mindful of the debt he owes Jose Mourinho for giving him his shot at the big time.
Traore, who is on loan with the Dutch side from parent club Chelsea, was handed his first professional contract by the Manchester United manager and, after he had spent more than a season on-loan at Vitesse Arnhem, Mourinho also gave him his Chelsea debut.
But Traore, 21, also warned his former boss that he is desperate to score against him in the Friends Arena in Stockholm on Wednesday to give himself a platform to stake a place in the plans of Chelsea manager Antonio Conte next season.
‘Just before I left to join Ajax, I had a chat with Antonio Conte,’ said Traore. ‘We had a good conversation and I just had to come here to progress, do well and get some game time, some minutes, then get
my game intensity high and
then we’ll see.
‘I haven’t spoken to him since
then because the contact I have
is with the loan department at
Chelsea but, when the seeason is
finished, I’ll go back to Chelsea
and we will have a chat.
‘If you see that players like
Victor Moses and Nathan Ake
are going on loan, doing well
and coming back and having
the opportunity to play, of course it’s encouraging.
‘I’m looking forward to seeing Mourinho, too. I learned a lot from him about showing big character on the pitch.’
Mourinho was fired by Chelsea midway through the third season of his second spell with the club but Traore wishes he had stayed longer and disputed the idea that he is a manager who is reluctant to give young players a chance.
‘He was the one who took me to pre-season at 17 for a trial and gave me the opportunity to score goals,’ said Traore. ‘Then he gave me a professional contract and sent me on loan to Vitesse. I owe him a lot. I’ll be happy to meet him again. I’ll give him a hug — but I also have to score against him.’