Jose Mourinho loses bet with young West Ham mascot

Dire times at Stamford Bridge have the famed Chelsea gaffer checking the adverts for job openings, but even while imbrued in his career's lowest point, at least Jose Mourinho is willing to give the shirt off his back.

During Chelsea's 2-1 loss to West Ham last weekend, the Portuguese gaffer made a wager with one of the Hammers young mascots before kickoff.

Former West Ham winger Stuart Slater was at Upton Park and witnessed the exchange in the tunnel prior to the match. Slater shared his version of the events with West Ham fan podcast Knees Up Mother Brown.

"Before the game, Mourinho was talking to the ball boys and mascots and one of the mascots said to him, ‘We’re going to beat you!" Slater said.

"When he returned from the warm-up, he came back into the tunnel and asked which one of the mascots said West Ham were going to beat Chelsea - one of the boys put his hand up and said, 'It was me!"

To which Mourinho replied, "If we win I’ll have your shirt - and if you win, I'll get you a signed Chelsea shirt."

"Whether it happened or not, I don’t know - but it was brilliant that he could have a little bit of banter before the game," Slater added.

Nice to know that even a man surely stressed by Chelsea's worst ever Premier League start is still capable of cracking wise with a few starstruck children.