Jose Mourinho posts savage 'overweight' response to Allan Saint-Maximin after axing ex-Newcastle winger from Fenerbahce squad for Rangers clash

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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Mourinho will be relying on others to try and complete a remarkable turnaround against Rangers, but he has stated that “I don’t think it’s over” and remains confident that Fenerbahce can spring a surprise in Glasgow and make their way into the quarter-finals.