New
Chelsea signing Tiemoue Bakayoko believes he has joined the "biggest club"
in England.
Bakayoko has joined the Premier League champions on a five-year-deal from
Monaco for a fee understood to be £40m.
And the France international declared himself ready to achieve "great
things" at the club he perceives as the Premier League's finest.
"I'm very happy to be here," he told the Blues' official website. "For me
this is the biggest English club, and I hope to achieve great things here. I
am very proud.
"Chelsea is a great club with a great history and they are the champions of
England. My wish was to be at the best English club there is today.
"Now the work starts. I'm very impressed by the facilities. Everything is
much bigger than I have known and it seems like the perfect place to play
football."
Bakayoko revealed he had already met boss Antonio Conte and says he is
focused on working up to "fighting form" to cope with the rigours of
England's top flight.
"We spoke a lot about tactics and training and he took the time to talk to
me about my game and explain I must be serious-minded and work hard,"
Bakayoko said of his briefing with the Italian.
"I know the Premier League is a very difficult championship - one of the
most difficult in the world. It is very physical and I know you must be in
fighting form to compete in this league.
Asked about his football heroes, the central midfielder cited Chelsea legend
Didier Drogba - and revealed another former Stamford Bridge favourite,
Claude Makelele, had helped develop his game.
"Drogba has had a stellar career and he managed to do so many great things,
first at Marseille and then here at Chelsea," he added. "He is definitely an
example I wish to follow, be it the footballer or the person himself.
"Makelele helped me greatly. When he arrived at Monaco I wasn't a very, very
good player, but I had a lot of discussions with him, he gave me a lot of
advice, and he allowed me to play my style of football more simply."
top