Jose Mourinho and Cesc Fabregas convinced player to join Chelsea over Manchester United, he won the Premier League a year later

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Chelsea favourites Jose Mourinho and Cesc Fabregas once combined off the pitch to help bring one key player to Stamford Bridge.

Even though Jose Mourinho has coached plenty of clubs in his long and successful managerial career, he’s still synonymous with Chelsea. The Portuguese boss dominated with the Blues during his first spell from 2004-2007 before returning to West London for another fruitful period between 2013-2015.

As for Cesc Fabregas, the midfield maestro played at Chelsea between 2014 and 2019 during part of a remarkable career for club and country. Incidentally, he’s now retired and is managing Serie A club Como.

Gianfranco Zola compared Enzo Fernandez to Fabregas because of his speed of mind on the football pitch. We still think the current Blues star has a long, long way to go to reach the Spaniard’s level, though.

• READ MORE: Former Chelsea player recalls fascinating dressing room story when Jose Mourinho ‘stuck it on’ John Terry

Jose Mourinho and Cesc Fabregas convinced player to join Chelsea over Manchester United

Back in the summer transfer window of 2015, Chelsea completed the signing of Pedro from Barcelona.

Interestingly, he received phone calls from some senior individuals at Stamford Bridge that helped convince him to make the switch to the English capital.

The Guardian reported in August 2015 that conversations on the phone with Mourinho and Fabgreas persuaded Pedro to snub Manchester United’s long-term interest and join them at Chelsea instead.

Pedro’s Chelsea career, which lasted from 2015-2020, started under Mourinho. He would go on to win three major trophies as a Blues player, including the Premier League a year after joining under Antonio Conte’s management.

It feels a long time ago now that Chelsea could help pull transfer targets to the club with profiles such as Mourinho and Fabregas to work with.

John Obi Mikel wants Enzo Maresca to mirror Mourinho in the way he approaches certain things, but there’s not many managers in history who can match his charisma and man-management.

Pedro is criminally underrated

Pedro is the definition of underrated because what he’s achieved in the sport doesn’t get the hype it deserves.

At the age of 37, the Spanish winger is still shining for Lazio this season, scoring nine goals across all competitions. He collected the bulk of his 26 trophies earlier in his career at Barcelona, though.

Without a doubt, the current Chelsea side would absolutely love a prime version of Pedro in their team. The diminutive winger, who’s excellent with both feet, gives so much both offensively and defensively when he’s on the football pitch.

Pedro was open to staying with Chelsea back in 2020 before he did end a five-year spell at the Bridge.