SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, (THEWILL) – Former Chelsea star, Michael Essien, has disclosed that Jose Mourinho stopped him from playing for London rival club Arsenal FC.
Essien who spoke on Instagram live chat with Carol Tshabalala, stated that he almost joined Arsenal but Mourinho got to know of it and pressed him to play for him at Real Madrid instead.
“I was with Chelsea in Monaco for the Super Cup and a strange number called me but I didn’t want to answer it but my cousin who was in the room with me that day told me to pick it up.
“The number kept calling so I picked and as soon as I said hello and another hello came from the other end and I realised who was on the phone so I told my cousin it’s Jose Mourinho.
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“We started talking and he said, ‘I heard you’re on your way to Arsenal’. But I told him it’s not true. I had not heard anything from Arsenal. Then he said don’t go to Arsenal, come to me and I asked him where, and he said Real Madrid so I told him I’m ready.
“It was the last day of the transfer window and he said okay give me your agent’s number. I told him I’m ready even if it means I have to leave in the midst of the Super Cup game.
“He said Lassana Diarra was supposed to move to Russia so if he accepts to go then they will process my transfer and I told him, ‘OK, I’m waiting, just chilling in my room’. He said give me a couple hours I’ll call back and I said cool.
“My agent called after a few hours and said what happened and I told him I spoke to Jose about moving to Madrid and said he gave Jose my number. He told me to relax because Madrid will come and I just said OK.”
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