Jose Mourinho says he insisted Chelsea sign Didier Drogba from Marseille, claiming he told Blues owner Roman Abramovich to "pay and don't speak".
Drogba moved to the west London club in 2004, the same year Mourinho joined, completing a £24 million ($31m) transfer from Ligue 1.
The Ivory Coast international was 26 years old at the time and had scored a total of 39 goals from 80 appearances in the French league.
Speaking to beIn Sports this week, Mourinho said: “Drogba is the kind of guy who is so loyal that he never forgot that I took him from Marseille to the Premier League, where he was not even expected, because he didn’t start very young at that level.