Jose Mourinho: Cesc Fabregas was 'The Missing Piece' in my Chelsea Squad Last Season

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes Cesc Fabregas was "the missing piece" in his squad from the previous campaign.

The Blues finished third in the Premier League, four points behind champions Manchester City last season.

The Portuguese tactician lamented the lack of goals and splashed the cash generated from the sale of David Luiz to sign the former Arsenal star and Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa.

The Spanish international midfielder penned a five-year contract to seal his switch to Stamford Bridge for a reported £27m fee from his boyhood club, Barcelona.

The self-proclaimed "Special One" lauded Fabregas's versatility and hinted that the 27-year-old can help Chelsea win trophies next season.

"We have [Nemanja] Matic and [John Obi] Mikel as the anchormen. They are positional players. We have Oscar and Willian, No10s, if you can say that. Fabregas is both. We need his football brain in our team. He's very intelligent," Mourinho explained.

"He is a little bit like the missing piece of our engine. We are so happy and all the players are too – they have a fantastic feeling with him because of how quickly he thinks on the pitch."

"He can play as a No 8 or No10. If he plays as a No 10 he can score goals. If he plays as a No 8 he can give stability to the team. I see him everywhere because he can play everywhere."

"His best quality is the speed with which he analyses the game and executes it. It's difficult for him to lose the ball or make the wrong decision. He can accelerate or reduce the intensity of the game," he added.

Mourinho said Fabregas would see out his career with the Catalan giants. But the Spaniard's desire to return to England prompted the 51-year-old to swoop for the midfielder's signature.

"I always thought Fabregas would be a Barcelona player because he is so good. Being Catalan and with players like Xavi coming to the end of their career I always thought he would stay, but it was him," the former Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss added.

"He was so strong about his decision to come back to English football, a bit like me. He was in a big club and he wanted to be back. When we had the information that he had decided to come back to London, we knew he was the player we wanted," he concluded.