Jose Mourinho has spoken about how he convinced Cesc Fabregas to leave Barcelona for Chelsea.
The Spanish international ended last season with La Liga giants Barcelona in dreadful form, having struggled to produce the goods as the Catalan club failed to beat Atletico Madrid to the Spanish title.
And, following Spain’s dreadful start to the World Cup in Brazil – it was confirmed on social media and via Chelsea’s official website that he had in fact agreed a move to Stamford Bridge, angering fans of his former club Arsenal.
Many Barca fans were also left angered after Fabregas linked up with their former nemesis – Jose Mourinho, and the Portuguese coach has discussed how he tempted the midfielder to make the move to Chelsea.
“We needed a midfielder with a different quality and we looked at two or three, but my team did a superb job when we decided to go for Cesc,” he told Spanish daily AS.
“What I did was call the player to explain what I wanted from him, waiting for him to believe that the transfer was good for him.
“After that the club did very well. I was hoping the player would return to Barcelona to train with his team as we were closing the transfer, but in the end we were able to sign him during the World Cup.”