Fuente : Chelsea FC
http://www.chelseafc.com/

CHELSEA FC: Mourinho introduces his new 'multifunctional midfielder'

/noticias.info/ José Mourinho believes that in Michael Essien, he has brought a player capable of slotting smoothly and quickly into his team.

Introducing Chelsea’s new record signing on the day the long-running transfer saga came to end, agreements having been reached with the player and his former club Lyon, Mourinho talked at length about why he wanted the Ghanaian midfielder so badly.

“He speaks perfect English, it is his home language, he speaks French and he has a lot of French and African players here,” explained the Chelsea manager. “The empathy is very easy and very direct and I think it will be very easy for him to adapt.

“One of the reasons we wanted to buy him so much is that Lyon played the same system as Chelsea play so for him it is just a change of shirts and a change the faces around him. His position on the pitch is the same, his role in the tactical organisation is very similar.

“I wanted him because I was looking for a player to finish what we believe is a very, very strong squad in every department,” continued Mourinho who was adamant that Essien would be the last signing of the summer.

“We believe he is the best we can get for the midfield. He can play in every position of the midfield so he is midfield multifunctional, he is young and he has a lot of ambition. He won a lot of things but only in the French League and he has not yet had success in European competitions so he is full of ambition.”

Mourinho also confirmed his belief that the new arrival can fulfil the duties normally carried out by Claude Makelele if needed, and that if no agreement had been reached between Chelsea and Lyon this summer then he would not have shopped elsewhere. Chelsea would have resumed the chase for the main target in January or next close season.

“He has the profile of the player we wanted,” Mourinho added. “I know that the questions will be around the amount Chelsea had to spend to bring him here but that is the reality of modern football. Big teams only want big players and big players are only in good clubs. Good clubs want to keep their big players and they want a lot of money for them.”

The undisclosed fee spent makes Essien the most expensive African in world football, overtaking Didier Drogba. Clearly delighted the move has gone through, the player revealed a long-standing ambition.


“I am in love with the Premiership. The transfer has been a very difficult situation but I made it clear I wanted to join Chelsea. I wanted to come to the Premiership.


“I don’t think it will be a problem for me to play for Chelsea. I speak the language and I have friends in the team. We have a big squad here so it is going to be very tough competition but I am ready to fight for a place in the first team.”


Paper work needs to be completed before the new player is eligible to face Arsenal on Sunday but despite the protracted nature of the transfer, he believes he will be ready if needed.

“Physically I am okay because I trained normally with my former club,” he explained.

He took care not be drawn into comparisons with other players. He will let others decide on that, and on the differences between life at Chelsea and Lyon so far, he joked about the weather on a soggy day at Cobham.

The final word on the successful transfer fell to Mourinho. “Michael was strong in his approach to the situation. He showed not just his former club but the world that he wanted to come to Chelsea strongly. Chelsea Football Club was persistent and waited for the right moment.”
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