Demba Ba has revealed he was close to leaving Chelsea to join Arsenal but Jose Mourinho blocked the deadline day transfer because he was worried about his potential link-up with Mesut Ozil.
The Senegalese forward moved to Stamford Bridge in January 2013 after impressing at Newcastle but just a few months later the west London club were ready to sell him, with West Ham, Arsenal and the Magpies all linked with moves that summer.
Arsene Wenger was in need of reinforcements up front and the Gunners had agreed a deal in principle to sign Ba on loan on deadline day, only for Mourinho to intervene.
Reports at the time suggested the Portuguese coach genuinely considered Arsenal as potential title challengers if they bolstered their attack, and now Ba has effectively confirmed as much.
The 36-year-old says he was awaiting the call to do a medical with the north Londoners only for the deal to never materialise, with Mourinho then joking the very next day that he had not wanted to see Ba link up with Ozil – who had joined earlier in the day from Real Madrid – at the Emirates.
‘The people from Arsenal called me and I jumped on a train because it’s just a couple of hours from Paris,’ explained Ba during an interview on Fabrizio Romano’s Twitch stream.
‘And then I arrived in London, and I had waited the whole day at home thinking that the deal was going to be done.
‘And by 7pm or 8pm, I’m not a kid anymore so I’m thinking, “I don’t think that anything is going to happen”.
‘So another Jose story, he comes the next day into the dressing room and he says, “The combination of Demba and Mesut Ozil would have been fantastic”.
‘And in my mind I’m like, “You just blocked me from…
Source : metro
