Former Chelsea striker, Demba Ba has recalled how former manager Jose Mourinho blocked his move to Arsenal.
This happened during his time with Chelsea after joining the Blues from Newcastle United after scoring 29 Premier League goals in 54 games during his two-year stint with the Magpies.
The 35-year-old now plies his trade with Istanbul Basaksehir wanted to leave the Blues in the summer after the arrival of Barcelona legend Samuel Eto’o was expected to limit his playing time.
Speaking with FourFourTwo, Ba said he was close to teaming up with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal on transfer deadline day before Mourinho stopped the transfer from happening.
The Senegalese further reveled that he was at his house in Paris, having a day off, when he received a phone call from Arsene Wenger, asking if he would come back to London for a medical,.
“I woke up at 9 am on transfer deadline day, jumped on a train, got to London, but then it never happened.
“Arsenal made a couple of signings on the same day [Mesut Ozil and Emiliano Viviano] and Mourinho chose to block the deal, as he didn’t want to help make one of Chelsea’s competitors stronger.”
Demba Ba recalls the best performance at Chelsea
Ba, who started five Premier League games in the 2013-14 season made key impacts for the Blues coming off the bench. One of such was his most eye-catching performances against Paris Saint-Germain when he scored the match-winner in their Champions League quarter-final.
“Being a young kid from the hood in Paris, growing up in poverty and then scoring the goal that took Chelsea to the Champions League semi-finals, that felt like a great achievement.
“I had to find a way of dealing with not starting matches, but when you don’t play and you’re surrounded by players who do, the negativity comes.
“Near the end of that season, I decided to stop moaning, work hard until the season was done, then move on. When I stopped complaining, I started to score and play more.”
Ba said Mourinho pleaded with him to stay for another year, without guarantee of a starting, but he had already decided to go.
Ba then left Stamford Bridge to team up with Turkish side Besiktas in 2014. He would later move to China to Shanghai Shenhua.
The Senegalese recently helped Istanbul Basaksehir to win the 2019-20 Super Lig title.
