Jose Mourinho has admitted he pulled the plug on Demba Ba’s move to Arsenal because the signing of Mesut Ozil makes them title contenders.
The Blues boss, who coached the German during his three years at Real Madrid, hailed Ozil as the ‘best number 10 in the world’, and has no qualms revealing his £42.5million move to the Emirates convinced him to block Arsene Wenger’s bid for Ba.
“Ozil is unique,” Mourinho said. “There is no copy of him – not even a bad one.”
“He is the best number 10 in the world.”
“He makes things very easy for me and for his team-mates with his football vision and the decisions he makes.”
“Everyone loves him and sees a bit of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane in him.”
“We didn’t accept Arsenal’s offer for Demba Ba because the signing of Ozil makes them title contenders.”
Arsenal are said to be fuming with Chelsea after they sank the Ba deal, leaving them with just Olivier Giroud as their only recognised striker until January.