Jose Mourinho has delivered a savage “overweight” response to Allan Saint-Maximin questioning his selection calls for Fenerbahce’s clash with Rangers.
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French forward dropped by Portuguese coachWill play no part in clash with Gers at IbroxEuropa League quarter-final spot up for grabsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The Turkish giants will be back in Europa League action on Thursday when taking in the second leg of a last-16 encounter with Scottish opposition that they currently trail 3-1 on aggregate. Mourinho announced his squad for that trip to Ibrox on Wednesday, with Saint-Maximin being overlooked.
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The former Newcastle winger, who is on loan at Fener from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, posted on social media after learning that he had been dropped on his 28th birthday: “It will take more than this to defeat me. When a lie takes the elevator, the truth takes the stairs. It takes longer but it always arrives in the end. If God is with us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31.”
WHAT JOSE MOURINHO SAID
It did not take long for Mourinho to bite back, with the outspoken ‘Special One’ saying in an Instagram post of his own: “I didn't know Saint-Maximin was talented in poetry. I'm not bad in that regard either. When a football player works well, works hard, trains every day, he is fit and can climb the stairs. He doesn't need an elevator. However, if a player doesn't train well, arrives late, is overweight, is not ready to play, he needs an elevator to go up. Because he gets tired quickly on the stairs.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Saint-Maximin has sought to rubbish any suggestion that he is too heavy to perform properly at present, saying alongside an image of his current weight and that from previous years: “Lies produce flowers but not fruit.”