Jose Mourinho believes the way he improved Didier Drogba during his first tenure as Chelsea manager will help the young Chelsea players get immediately behind him.
Jose Mourinho spent £24 million on Drogba in 2004, and the Ivorian went on to score 157 goals for the Blues, becoming a club legend in the process.
“I think Didier Drogba, as a man and as a professional, is a good guy to be looked at as a very special player in the history of this club,” Mourinho is quoted as saying by the Guardian.
“I can use Didier as a profile to persuade the young boys to follow me because he did follow me from day one.”
Mourinho hopes his current crop of young stars can have a similar impact to Drogba at Stamford Bridge.
He added: “Drogba was playing in France and nobody really knew a lot about him when I asked the owner (Roman Abramovich) to buy him.
“Some people thought he was too expensive for somebody who had not proved himself. Then, in the owner’s 10th year in charge, he was voted the best player in Chelsea’s history.
“I think every player can have the same ambition that Didier had because he was a guy driven by ambition, by emotion, by friendship and by loyalty.
“He was loyal to the club, the manager, his fellow players and the fans.”
Jose Mourinho has so far added Andre Schurrle and Marco Van Ginkel to his squad this summer, but is said to be keen on recruiting another striker, with Christian Benteke, Edinson Cavani, and even Liverpool’s Luis Suarez linked with the west London club.
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