He arrived back at the club where he had done so much in the previous decade if not quite in another blaze of glory, then back into a familiar atmosphere.
Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea looking to inspire them to the heady heights he’d taken them to some years before.
It’s fair to say that, though successful initially given that Chelsea won another league title, it quickly became an abject failure for the Portuguese who thrived on his moniker of the ‘Special One.’
His second tenure ended in December 2015, and after the Blues had lost nine Premier League matches from their opening 16.
It had bizarrely left the reigning champions in 16th and just one point above the relegation places.
According to The Athletic (subscription required) and cited by the Daily Mail, Mourinho was told of his sacking after Chelsea’s Christmas party at their Cobham training ground, and in order for him to be able to leave quietly, he needed to be smuggled out.
Goalkeeping coach, Silvino Louro, had Mourinho in his SUV with the press apparently thrown off the scent by an elaborate decoy.
Player liaison officer, Kevin Campello, was, according to The Athletic and cited by the Daily Mail, tasked with pretending he was Mourinho and it worked like a charm.
Press and photographers apparently followed him for half an hour before realising something was amiss, by which time Mourinho had made his great escape.