Jose: Essien completes Blues

Jose Mourinho says new signing Michael Essien is the best player of his position.

The Ghanaian star completed his protracted move from Lyon to the Premiership champions on Friday and The Blues' record signing at £26 million has been unveiled at a press conference flanked by his beaming boss.

Chelsea ended their lengthy pursuit after a game of cat and mouse with the French champions which concluded with Essien refusing to play at Stade Gerland in an attempt to force through the move.

After finally clinching the capture of the 22-year-old, Mourinho expounded on Essien's quality, versatility and the drive and ambition he will bring to the stellar squad at Stamford Bridge.

"I wanted him because I was looking for a player to finish what we believe is a very strong squad in every position and every department of our squad," said Mourinho.

"We believe he's the best we can get for that position, he can play in every position of midfield, multifunctional and it's important.

"Of course he will fight for his place but we know he can play in other positions, it's important in a squad.

"He's young, he has a lot of ambition, he won a lot of things but only in the French League.

"This is a new reality for him, not yet success in European competitions, he is so full of ambition and he has the profile of a player we want."

The Portuguese boss again exercised Roman Abramovich's financial might to eclipse the £24 million spent on Didier Drogba, but insisted that the astronomical fee was merely a reflection of the current transfer reality of world football.

Mourinho also reflected that Essien has the necessary linguistic skills and tactical awareness to acclimatise quickly to life in West London.

"I know questions will be around the money, will be around the amount we had to spend to bring him here but that's the reality of modern football," Mourinho continued.

"Big teams only want big players, big players are in big clubs, good clubs want to keep their big players and they demand a lot of money for them.

"It's hard and difficult to negotiate and to arrive into a conclusion, Chelsea did it.

"I spoke with him yesterday, I understood the feelings he had to come to Chelsea and it's easy to see.

"Easy adaptation, he speaks perfect English, French, has a lot of French players here, he has an empathy with the African players.

"I think it will be very easy for him to adapt, at the same time Lyon play the same system as Chelsea play so just for him it's a change of shirt, a change of faces around him, but his position on the pitch is the same.

"His role in the tactical organisation is very similar and I will try to coach him and show him as soon as I can things that are important for me.

"He feels good, okay and it is not difficult for him to join us.

"This press conference is for him, I come because I come all the time, this is his moment. He has to enjoy it if he can.

"I just want to introduce him and try to understand better what he is.

"I don't even know if the paperwork [work permit] is done and ready, something at this moment cannot play, I don't even think about it."

After completing the move he so desired Essien advanced his delight at making the switch to England's elite, and echoed Mourinho's hopes that he would adapt well to his new surroundings.

"I wanted to come to The Premiership and today I sign for Chelsea so I'm very happy," said Essien.

"I'm in love with The Premiership and one time they asked me what team. I said I want to play in one of the big clubs in England so I said I'd love to play for Manchester United, but things have changed so I'm happy to be with Chelsea.

"I don't think it will be a problem for me in terms of adaptation, I speak the language and have some friends in the team so it will be easy for me.

"Physically I'm okay, I train normally with my club so I don't know if my work permit is okay, I think the coach will know better.

"I think we have a lot of good players here, it's going to be very tough competition but I'm ready to fight for a place in the first team."

The Ghanaian star ended his time at Lyon in disheartening circumstances as he refused to turn out for Gerard Houllier's side, and expressed his desire to put the saga behind him and focus on proving himself with The Blues.

"It was a very difficult situation but I made it clear I wanted to join Chelsea," Essien continued.

"They understood my situation at Lyon, they wanted to keep their best players so I think that was the reason they didn't want me to come but I made it clear I was not ready to play for Lyon, I wanted to come to The Premiership.

"No [the high transfer fee doesn't matter], it's up to me to show them what I can do."

With Essien's arrival, Chelsea have a squad bursting at the seams with international experience and proven quality, and for this summer at least it appears as though Abramovich's chequebook may be closed shut.

Mourinho indicated that his squad was now complete after also recruiting Asier Del Horno, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lassana Diarra over the summer, and denied that Essien's arrival was dependent on his pursuit of Steven Gerrard falling on deaf ears.

"Complete, complete," said Mourinho when commenting on his squad.

"Maybe I could bring both [Essien and Gerrard], maybe some of the players of our squad in this moment wouldn't be here because I can't have 30 players but when we started speaking about players last season he was one of our targets.

"If negotiations with Lyon couldn't arrive I wouldn't bring another player, I would wait for December or next season to try to bring him. I wouldn't move for another player.

"He was strong in his approach to the situation, he showed not just his former club but the world he wanted to go to Chelsea very strongly.

"Chelsea were persistent, waited for the right moment to bring it to a conclusion."