Mourinho told Chelsea star ‘forget about it’ when he made shirt number request
Jose Mourinho told Florent Malouda to "forget about" wearing the No7 shirt when the winger joined Chelsea from Lyon in 2007.
Having just been named Ligue 1 Player of the Year, there was plenty of optimism around Stamford Bridge that Malouda could fill the shoes of Arjen Robben, who left for Real Madrid that same summer, and the Frenchman wanted a shirt number to reflect his importance to his new side.
"My first conversation with Jose Mourinho was great. I was so relieved to have got the green light to travel to London to finalise my contract," Malouda said speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of their 5-a-side bet on Chelsea vs Tottenham.
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"We talked for a while about which number I was going to wear. In France I wore the number seven shirt, so I asked Jose about the availability of that. He said 'No, Sheva [Andriy Shevchenko] is number seven. Forget about it'."
Didier Drogba played a major part in convincing Chelsea to sign Malouda, having forged a strong on and off field partnership with him during their two years together at Ligue 1 side Guingamp, and Mourinho suggested Malouda take his friend's old shirt number instead.
"[I asked Mourinho] Which numbers are available, then?" Malouda added. "[He told me] 'Your brother Didier wore number 15 for a couple of seasons when he arrived, before he changed to number 11, so why don't you wear that? Take your brother's number'.
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"He also told me I needed to thank Didier for getting the deal across the line! He referred to Didier as my manager, and told me he'd done a good job to bring me to the club."
Malouda spent six seasons at Chelsea, winning the Premier League, the Champions League and three FA Cups. His partnership with Drogba blossomed in the 2009/10 season, with the duo netting 52 goals between them and helping the Blues secure the 'double' for the first time in the club's history.
The Frenchman was released in 2013, though his final appearance for the Blues came during the 2012 Champions League final a year earlier, with pal Drogba scoring Chelsea's equaliser and winning penalty on the night.
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