A former Chelsea star has recalled how Jose Mourinho brought him down to earth after he first joined the club by swiftly rejecting his shirt number request.
The player in question arrived at Stamford Bridge at the start of the 2007-08 campaign and had been angling for the No 7 jersey, having used the number when he played in France.
But the forward was left disappointed after learning that his team-mate Andriy Shevchenko was occupying the sought-after number.
Having been delighted to become a Chelsea player and travelling up to London to wrap up his move, he was brought down a peg when Mourinho snubbed his request.
A former Chelsea star has revealed he was brought down to earth when asking for the No 7 shirt at Stamford Bridge
Florent Malouda claims Jose Mourinho told him to ‘forget about it’ when he made the request
‘My first conversation with Jose Mourinho was great,’ Florent Malouda revealed to Ladbrokes in 2022, having just arrived from Lyon.
‘I was so relieved to have got the green light to travel to London to finalise my contract,’ Malouda told Ladbrokes in 2022.
‘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”.’
Malouda would go on to take the No 15 shirt – and he would keep it throughout the duration of his time at the Bridge, which ended up being six seasons.
The Frenchman – who made 229 appearances and won a handful of trophies – was told Andriy Shevchenko (R) was already in possession of the fabled jersey
After Shevchenko departed for Dynamo Kiev, Ramires ended up being given the fabled shirt.
But the 15 still proved to be a lucky number for Malouda, who enjoyed a quality career at Chelsea, having scored 45 goals from 229 appearances, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup three times and the Champions League.
Now 43, Malouda would later leave Chelsea in the 2013-14 season for Turkish side Trabzonspor – before joining Ligue 1 outfit Metz.
He would round off his playing days in India with the Delhi Dynamos before spells in Egypt and Luxembourg.
