Demba Ba has revealed he was close to leaving Chelsea to join Arsenal but Jose Mourinho blocked the move because he was worried about his possible link-up with Mesut Ozil.
The Senegalese forward joined the Blues in January 2013 after impressing at Newcastle but just a few months later the London club were ready to sell him, with West Ham, Arsenal and the Magpies all linked that summer.
Arsene Wenger was in need of reinforcements up front and Arsenal had agreed a deal in principle to sign Ba on loan on deadline day, only for Mourinho to block the transfer.
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Reports at the time suggested the Portuguese manager considered Arsenal as potential title challengers if they bolstered their attack, and now Ba has confirmed as much.
The 36-year-old says he was awaiting the call to do a medical with the Gunners only for the deal to never materialise, with Mourinho joking the next day that he had not wanted to see Ba link up with Ozil 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 making this move and you’re making jokes about it!” So it’s a difficult day when you are a player, depending on the situation.’
Ba remained at Chelsea for the 2013-14 campaign, notably scoring at Anfield after a slip from Steven Gerrard that ended Liverpool’s title hopes, though only played a minor role in the squad.
After Chelsea signed Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid, Ba was given the green light to join a new team & signed for Besiktas, while Arsenal brought in Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez in the summer of 2014 to improve their attacking options.
