Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic is not looking to prove a point to Jose Mourinho when he faces Chelsea on Tuesday night in the League Cup at Anfield.
Markovic was said to be close to joining Chelsea in the summer of 2013 from Partizan Belgrade, but Mourinho chose to reject the winger, seeing him then join Benfica on a permanent deal.
The 20-year-old holds that rejection in his memory but he has said that he will be fully focused on helping Liverpool win the League Cup tie and not on proving the Portuguese boss wrong.
“I will play this match like every other match and I don’t have to prove or show anything to him.
“That was Mourinho’s opinion. I don’t know who expected me to sign for Chelsea. I went to London, but I was meeting friends of mine there, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic.
“But as soon as I discovered Liverpool were interested in me, I knew it was a really big club and I really wanted to come here. I am extremely happy.”
“I signed for Liverpool and I am extremely happy with my decision. Djuric is the ex-president so what he expected is different to what I expected.”
The Serbian international says the likes of Nemanja Matic tried to convince him to join Chelsea and he has revealed that he discussed such a move with the midfielder.
“There was never any pressure from them to sign for Chelsea but, of course, there is more motivation to face them now,” he added. “I am not sure I will be playing from the start but there is motivation to face them.
“I spoke to Matic before I signed for Liverpool. He told me that this is the best league and it will take time to adjust, because it took him time too, but I will get used to it. He said it was an extremely good decision.
“We will probably text each other before the game. Nothing special – we will just joke about who is going to win and who is going to play better.”