Cesc Fabregas reveals his first conversation with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
Cesc Fabregas has opened up on how in his first meeting with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, the Portuguese boss drew out his team for the season on a piece of paper and was adamant that side would win the Premier League.
Mourinho has rarely suffered a crisis of confidence and when trying to bring Fabregas to the club, he laid out to the Spaniard just how he expected to finish as champions with ‘two signings’ – Fabregas and Diego Costa.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand in the first episode of the former Manchester United defender’s Locker Room series on YouTube, Fabregas told all on that first conversation.
Cesc Fabregas opened up on what Jose Mourinho said to him before he joined Chelsea
The Spaniard explained how Mourinho drew out a team on paper that would win the league
‘On the first day I met him he told me “I need two players,”‘ Fabregas explained.
‘”I am going to sign Diego Costa and if you come..” He drew me the team on some paper and said this team is winning the title on the first day I met him. He only needed two players. Thibaut Courtois was already coming but he said, if you come, we win the title.’
The 33-year-old joined Chelsea in a five-year deal before the start of the 2014-15 season and Mourinho was proven right come May of that season when Fabregas and his team-mates had the league title in their grasp.
Mourinho (right) wanted a couple of additions but was praised highly in the video by Fabregas
Fabregas sat down to speak with Rio Ferdinand (right) as part of his new series on YouTube
Chelsea finished eight points clear of Manchester City that season and it was to be the first of two league titles at the club for Fabregas.
But Fabregas admitted that the idea of playing for Chelsea was totally ‘crazy’ when he was Arsenal captain.
The two London teams have a bitter rivalry and Fabregas joked that he would not have believed anyone who told him he would end up playing for both.
‘If you ask me when I was 23 years old and captain of Arsenal that I would be so happy to play for Chelsea, I would have said that you are crazy,’ he added.
‘But my understanding with the club, everyone who works at the club, the players, I was just so happy. We had some great coaches and again you can see it is a club who wants to win, who is hungry for titles.
Diego Costa (right) was one of the two players that Mourinho told Fabregas that he needed
Fabregas went on to win two Premier League titles during his time playing at Stamford Bridge
‘That was what I wanted. I knew going with Mourinho was important for my career.’
Fabregas, who now plays for AS Monaco in Ligue 1, departed Chelsea in 2019.
The Spaniard won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup as part of his trophy haul.
