Jose Mourinho took a couple of bizarre items with him after his Chelsea dismissal

Jose Mourinho's exit from Chelsea may well have been on the cards for a few weeks.

Finally, the news broke on Thursday that Mourinho's second spell at the club had come to an end. The following morning, the finer details of his dismissal were documented in the Friday papers. Before the sacking, Mourinho ate roast turkey and pulled crackers with Chelsea’s coaching staff and players at the club’s silver service Christmas lunch.

He was later summoned to a meeting with Roman Abramovich, chairman Bruce Buck and director Eugene Tenenbaum, according to both the Daily Mail and the Telegraph.

The Special One reemerged less than 10 minutes later a free agent concluding weeks of talks between Chelsea’s lawyers, Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes and the manager’s legal team over his £250,000-a-week contract.

But the most intriguing part of Mourinho's departure has to be the bizarre items he took with him...

It's reported that the Portuguese made sure he gathered up his belongings, including a life-size cardboard cut-out and a ‘Special One’ mug. For a man that has a history of giving away winners medals to fans, the idea that he's so attached to the a mug and a cardboard cut-out of himself adds a bit of comedy value to proceedings. Wonder where he'll put it?