Cesc Fàbregas says he was convinced to move to Chelsea after a meeting with José Mourinho, where the Portuguese manager promised the club would win the Premier League title if he moved to Stamford Bridge.
When Fabregas left Barcelona in 2014, his first choice was to rejoin Arsenal. But after being left in the dark by Arsene Wenger, who at the time had a wealth of midfield talent to choose from, the former Spain international had the chance to return to the Premier League with three different clubs. Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
It only took one meeting with then Chelsea manager Mourinho to convince Fabregas of the transfer, where the former Arsenal captain was told he would help the club win another Premier League title.
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“One day, when I first met him, he said to me ‘I need two players, I’m going to sign Diego Costa, if you come to me…’, he told me on paper. The team pulled up and said ‘This is the team to win the title'”, Fabregas told Rio Ferdinand’s Five YouTube channel.
“The first day I met him he said ‘I only need two players: Diego, who is basically signed’ and then Thibaut Courtois was coming but if not it was Petr Čech. It’s basically the same. But he said: ‘You come, we’ll win the title’.”
“After that, after working with him, he’s probably the coach that played better than me. He’s a great coach for great players. He plays with the brain.
“One day, we were doing really well in the league and he texted you to tell you how good you are, how you played so well… [but then] ‘You were dirty today’. That’s how he plays with you.”
Fabregas made 198 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, scoring 22 goals and providing 57 assists.
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He also won five pieces of silverware during his time at Stamford Bridge, eventually leaving the club in January 2019 where he joined French side AS Monaco.