Victor Moses
Nigeria’s very own player who plays for Chelsea said Jose Mourinho exiled him at Chelsea because “he had his own players” and said he is delighted that new head coach Antonio Conte has given him a second chance to prove himself at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho will return to the home of his former club as Manchester United manager for the first time on Sunday, while in-form Moses is expected to keep his place in the Chelsea starting XI on the right of Conte’s new 3-4-3 formation.
It has been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Moses, who spent the last three seasons on loan at Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham respectively, and one the 25-year-old feels is long overdue after being ignored by Mourinho.
“He never spoke to me,” Moses told ESPN FC when asked if Mourinho had explained the decision to send him on loan. “I thought in my head, ‘He’s got his own players already’.
“I think we chatted a couple of times on the phone — he asked if I was alright at Liverpool [where Moses spent the 2013-14 season on loan], but that was it.”
Conte revealed after last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Leicester City that he requested the chance to assess Moses in preseason when he began his duties as Chelsea head coach in July, and the Nigeria international says his new boss quickly made it clear that he was a fan.
“The manager came to me and said, ‘I feel that you’re working hard, I really enjoy watching you play and I don’t want you to go out on loan’,” Moses added.
“When he said that to me I was really pleased. To be honest, I just want to go out there, enjoy my football and work hard for him. He’s played the game before, he understands it and he understands how players feel.”
