Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho revealed he has long-since admired new arrival Cesc Fabregas and considers the Spanish playmaker ‘the missing piece of the engine.’
The Blues chief was successful in his quest to sign the 27-year-old and brought Fabregas to Stamford Bridge last month, which appeared to answer all of Mourinho’s midfield prayers.
With a void left by Chelsea’s No. 8 Frank Lampard (who has joined Man City on loan until his 2015 transfer to the United States) along with the departure of Chelsea’s former No.10 Juan Mata (who signed to Man United in January), Mourinho’s swoop for the versatile ex-Barcelona star was a very strategic one.
Mourinho has spoken out on his reasoning behind this particular acquisition, describing how he sees the Spaniard as forming a vital part of the Chelsea attack with his attributes of skill combined with the speed and intelligence to cover all bases.
“I see him everywhere because he can play everywhere,” he told Chelsea’s official website.
“He can play as a No. 8 or No. 10. If he plays as a 10 he can score goals. If he plays as an 8 he can give stability to the team.
“His best quality is the speed with which he analyses the game and executes it. It’s difficult for him to lose the ball or make the wrong decision. He can accelerate or reduce the intensity of the game.
“He is a little bit like the missing piece of our engine.”
Prior to signing him, Mourinho had kept a close eye on Fabregas for many seasons. He cast his mind back to when he was an Arsenal player (between 2003 and 2011) and envisioned the budding Spanish ace to one day play for Europe’s top club, which last decade, was arguably the all-star prolific La Liga and European title-winning Barcelona.
It was a stroke of luck for Mourinho that Fabregas – who had spent three seasons with Barca – now longed to return to London, and he did not hesitate to make his intentions clear.
He said: “I had always thought Fabregas would be a Barcelona player because he is so good.
“Being Catalan, and with players like Xavi coming to the end of their career I always thought he would stay, but it was him. He was so strong about his decision to come back to English football, a bit like me.
“He was in a big club but he wanted to be back. When we had the information that he had decided to come back to London, we knew he was the player we wanted.”
The Chelsea boss is not the only one delighted by the arrival of Fabregas. Blues team mates admire his sharp football brain and see him as a very valuable addition to the squad.
“He’s very intelligent. We need his football brain in our team,” said the coach.
“We are so happy with him and all the players are too. They have a fantastic feeling with him because of how quickly he thinks on the pitch.”