Jose Mourinho on Cesc Fabregas: 'I know why he chose Chelsea, not why he didn't go to Arsenal'

Jose Mourinho has insisted he convinced Cesc Fabregas to move to Stamford Bridge by offering him a leading role at Chelsea but refused to comment on why the Spaniard chose the Blues over a return to Arsenal.

The Spain international star decided to leave the Camp Nou earlier in the summer of 2014 after being forced to play out of his original position, while being overshadow by the presence of Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in the middle of the park.

He was then heavily linked with a return to Arsenal as the Gunners had the chance to activate a buy-back clause in contract.

However, Fabregas revealed earlier in the season that manager Arsene Wenger passed up the chance because he already had Mesut Ozil for the playmaker role and the believed there were no room for both in his line-up.

Asked ahead of Fabregas's return to Arsenal for the London derby on 26 April why the Spain international joined the Blues rather than the Gunners, Mourinho responded: "I know why he chose Chelsea, not why he didn't go to Arsenal."

"I can only speak about us, what we promised him and what he promised us. We just promised him a team adapted to his style of play. In principal, we were thinking about him to be an important player in our project and a good project always ends with titles and he was looking for that."

Meanwhile the manager has hailed his decision to sign the former Arsenal midfielder even though the Spaniard has faded in the second part of the campaign.

Mourinho said: "I cannot compare my Fabregas with Arsenal's or Barcelona's Fabregas because I was not there to know what the managers he had were asking of him.

"With me, I can say he is doing everything we need from him. He's adapting to many situations and roles. Sometimes he plays very positional. Other times as a mobile number eight. Other times as a number 10. And he's doing every job the team needs. A fantastic contribution and season for us."

Meanwhile, Mourinho claimed Fabregas will deal with the pressure of returning to his former home if the Arsenal supporters give him a hostile reception.

He said: "I don't know what reception he will get. I'm not worried about that. Frank Lampard played back at Stamford Bridge [for Manchester City in January] without a problem and with a good reception, I don't see a reason for Fabregas not to have the same.

"But if he has some bad reaction, he can be more than ready. He has already played against Arsenal in a Barcelona shirt [in the Champions League]."