How happy are you with the signing of Aubameyang?
"It's a big package he brings to the group. At the moment, he cannot train, we just have make sure he gets a mask. We need to provide him a mask to protect his jaw and then we can start to try with the mask from next week."
Obviously, when he was at Arsenal, it didn't end well and there were disciplinary issues there. At Dortmund, you had some issues with timekeeping. Have you got to manage him carefully?
"That was the only incident and it was not even about time-keeping. It was about the rule we'd set between the matches. He forgot about the rule and visited his hairdresser, I guess that was it. It was nothing big, there was never a big issue that he has a big issue with his time. Also, he never misses a meeting or something like this, but the 60 minutes before arriving in training was sometimes a struggle with him. Sometimes it's 58 or 59 minutes until he's in, but never a major concern. He has a good heart, he's a top character, this is how I knew him. I'm 100 per cent sure he will fit into our dressing room. While he was my player, he was always positive, he never missed training, he was never injured. Hopefully, it will stay like this because he was always happy and in a good state of mind. He influences the group in a very positive way. This is how I remember Auba, this is how I felt him when I met him here in London when he was playing for Arsenal. This is what we expect from him."
How happy are you with Chelsea's summer transfer spend? It was so big that you broke the Premier League summer record?
"Oh really? We can discuss endlessly if we overspent or if it's too much money for the players but the players that we got are very, very good players and very good personalities. Everything was needed to rebuild the group and inspire the group and I think we did excellent, excellent signings. It does not help if we talk about the prices too much because we'll always find people and it's maybe hard to argue when they say it's way too much money – okay. This is how the market was for us. Maybe we were not in the perfect position to find always the right timing and the right price. But this was nobody's fault, this was because of the situation, but the players we got fit perfectly and I'm very happy to work with this group now."
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How excited are you about Fofana coming in?
"Very because he is that kind of profile that we identified very early to replace Toni [Rudiger] and Andreas [Christensen]. We are very happy that we stayed patient, super happy that Todd [Boehly] was relentless on it and never gave up. We managed to fulfil this transfer. Wesley is young, he's fast, he's very, very strong in set-pieces, defending and attacking. He was one of the very early targets to replace our guys that left the club."
Is Zakaria going to be in the squad this weekend? What's the latest on him?
"No. I think we need to work on the latest information and understand that we need to work on the work permit. He will not be in the squad for tomorrow – it's too close. We hope for Tuesday and then for Fulham."
And Loftus-Cheek and Reece James?
"They're back in training and are both available. So in the moment, it's only N'Golo out. Everyone else is available. We had a group of 19 players [in training]. Then it will be 21 players with Auba and Denis."
You were unhappy with the performance in midweek, what has the reaction been like in training this week and what have you been saying to them to try and get them to toughen up?
"Yeah, I think we need to – all of us. We need to use the end of the transfer period and simply the energy and stability it gives you when you know which is the group of players who are in the squad and who fights for what. We will use the stability we need to grow the group and influence each other in a positive way. We will use this momentum. We could see today and yesterday on the pitch. There was not a lot of training, of course, and it wasn't the most intense training because of the two matches in a week. I saw a reaction already yesterday and today we had a good session. The cards are on the table, I need to choose a team for tomorrow. We will use it as a new start, it is needed. We have our reasons why it is like this, but we need to leave it behind us and not think too much about what was going wrong. We have the chance to start the season new tomorrow, with a home game, with the players we have and the players that are available and I have the feeling that everyone is ready to show up."
What have you made of West Ham so far, and they were unlucky not to beat Spurs in the week?
"Yes. It was a good match of football. I enjoyed watching it from both teams. West Ham look very strong. They are what they are – they're very physical, I have a feeling they're a strong group with a good team spirit, they have a strong manager. They know what they are. They have periods where they can create huge moments within minutes and they have periods where they dig in and defend deep with a lot of discipline. They're always ready to hurt you on counter-attacks with speed and physicality. Then come a lot of crosses, with Soucek arriving in the box for headers and of course set-pieces, where they are strong and physical. This is what they are. They struggled a little bit in getting results and maybe growing into the season. They also made some late signings which injected a lot of quality and personality into the group, so it will be a tough derby."
How much of a concern is their physicality if toughness has been an issue for your players?
"Yeah, we need to step up. We have how many games to go in the Premier League. If we don't get tough in the Premier League, then we will get punished all the way. This is not what we want, this is not what we are up to. We will show a reaction. It's proven we can do it with this group. We need to find that spirit and we need to find the right spirit and attitude throughout all the matches. That includes me, my staff and the team. Like I said, we need to use the momentum because we know who is in the squad. From now on, we need to show a new face and a new toughness."
The curse of the number nine shirt, with Auba taking the shirt, is this the player who maybe, apart from Drogba and Costa, can finally be a striker who is considered a success at Chelsea?
"Well, we hope. It's on us to prove it, it's on me to find a position and to create enough support for him and on him to finish our attacks, be strong and be on the pitch. I'm not sure if he took the number nine, I'm not aware of his number at the moment. If he did, I think he is not afraid of the past and what a number means. He is ready to write his own history. If he is brave enough to take the nine, he takes the nine."
Wesley Fofana – does it bother you at all that when he was at Saint-Etienne and then at Leicester, he went on strike and didn't want to play?
"I don't know enough to judge all the facts. I don't have enough information about the situation. Sometimes players have promises, sometimes players have promises with handshakes, sometimes misunderstandings lead to these situations. Of course, the clubs where it happens, they do not like it. We would not like it, 100 per cent not. But we are not judging from that because we don't have the whole picture. Wesley, to me, was very reliable with what he said. He was never disrespectful towards Leicester in what he said in his words towards me, in his behaviour, and how he acted when we were talking or messaging. He was always very respectful and respected the situation there. He saw a chance for himself and he saw an opportunity to convince Leicester and make a point for Leicester to come to us and see the benefits and to convince the officials at Leicester. At the very end, this happened."
Do you feel under any more pressure with the signings in? Does it put you under more pressure to challenge for the title?
"Well, before we talk about challenging for the title, we should be ready to challenge West Ham for a win, and then we go on. It's too many losses already, too many points dropped already to talk about big things. Just because the transfer period ended, it's not the only point in a turnaround and we need kind of a turnaround in this season. I told you many times that I think we are a club in transition and we are paying the price for the last half a year of insecurity. I think the teams that are now dominating the league are the teams who knew since many months what they want, where they are, which role they are going to play, which role they attack in this league. It was not so clear until today for us, so we have to come from behind. We have periods in every game where we play okay, we have periods in every game – except from Tottenham – where we don't play okay. We got punished for not a lot with results but this is where we are and from now on, of course, the pressure is on me, but it is always like this."
Have you sat down with the players to get their opinion on what's going wrong?
"Yes, but not too much because I was honestly waiting until today. Yesterday was afternoon training and then until 11 at night was still the transfer window open and I did not want to engage in these kinds of important talks with players that maybe aren't 100 per cent committed because they're still trying to go out. For me, it was more important to wait until today and from now on, we will do everything we can to influence this group to the way we want to sharpen our attitude to a level that is needed to be competitive on a higher level. We believe we can be more competitive than we are at the moment. It's on me to bring it out of the group and it's on the players to bring it out on the pitch."
Has the transfer window been a distraction for some of the players and for you?
"It was quite turbulent but there was no choice not to do it because the situation was the situation. We were sanctioned. We were very late in the transfer market, we did not know what was going to happen, what was possible. Of course, everybody took their responsibility. The new owners stepped in, and they did not sleep at all! You can call it a distraction, a shift of focus, of course it was like this and that's why I'm happy it's closed now and the focus shifts completely now to the team, coaching, influencing and pushing the team to a limit. There is nobody to blame, there was no other option than doing it the way we did it. I think we managed to get very good players, very high quality and high profile."
Auba has taken the number nine and he's said he's coming back with unfinished business. The fact he's embracing both of these things, are you pleased he's ready to meet those challenges head-on?
"Auba, in my point of view, is always happy to fight for something and accept the challenge. The more challenges he has, the better he is. If he wants to overcome the number nine curse, or he wants to show somebody in London that he's better than people think, the more the better. He's up for that and he's happy. I know him as very focused and in general, very open and a person with an open heart who is very happy to be on the pitch everyday. This is what we wanted, a very positive influence in any group and he is, like I said, up for any challenge. This is what we want."
Aubameyang spent all those years at Arsenal. What does he need to do to get the trust and backing of the Chelsea fans?
"I don't know. I imagine everyone is happy that he chose the club in blue now instead of the club in red. I think they will see very, very early about what he is. He's about using his speed, but not only his speed to score goals, but he is a very hard-working striker. He is the first line in pressing, he is very strong in counter-pressing and he's ready to work and that's what made him special in Dortmund. It's what made him captain at Arsenal and he lifted some trophies there. I think just to reduce him to the last season where things became a little difficult, I think I cannot judge it, but it's very rare in these situations that it's a one-person problem. It is what it is. I'm not here to judge anything because it's none of my business. I can just tell you how I met Auba and how he was for me. He did what he did at every club, he scores, wins title. He has the winning mentality that can be huge in the group."
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