Jose Mourinho thought I’d replace Champions League winner – now I cost £1.6m

A 21-year-old Ghana international joined Chelsea back in 2015 and Jose Mourinho had tipped him to be the perfect replacement for Premier League winner Cesar Azpilicueta.

Left-back Abdul Rahman Baba joined the Blues from FC Augsburg in a £21million transfer in the summer of 2015 as Mourinho was convinced he’d be the star to replace future Champions League winner Azpilicueta in the squad eventually. The Spaniard, who was 26 at the time, was handed Baba to compete with for the position after Filipe Luis left the London club to rejoin Atletico Madrid in the same summer.

The Special One, who was the Chelsea manager at the time, said that Baba was an “important” signing to bring “balance” to the squad. The Express reported that Mourinho said at the time: “It is important because he is a left-back. He can compete with (Cesar) Azpilicueta.

“At the same time Azpilicueta can compete with (Branislav) Ivanovic for the right-back position, so he replaces Filipe Luis in the balance of the squad.”

Baba was also excited to join the London giants over 9 years ago as he said: “I am very happy to sign for Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world. I can’t wait to train with my new team-mates and am very much looking forward to working with them and Mr Mourinho.”

However, this signing never actually worked out for Baba or Mourinho as he made 23 appearances and assisted just twice in his first season. In this season, Chelsea finished 10th and Mourinho was sacked halfway into the campaign – leaving Baba to fend for himself with new manager Guus Hiddink.

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Baba was loaned out in his second season to FC Schalke 04 and scored one goal, assisting twice but missing most of the season due to his fitness and also damage to his meniscus.

Then in the most unfortunate of fashion, Baba suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear (ACL) in his left knee during Ghana’s African Nations Cup opener against Uganda in 2017. He spent a total of 470 days out with this tear but was reportedly raring to go again after two serious knee issues in the first two seasons with the club.

However, in 2019, Baba joined Mallorca on loan for the 2019/20 season and damaged a knee ligament just three weeks later. He underwent a different form of treatment and this eventually failed, requiring him to have surgery on both knees.

This kept him out for almost a year and this almost stopped Baba’s career for good. In an interview with Sheik Toufic, he said: “It was 2019. I just wanted to stop when I first heard the news about my injury. That was the first time I slept early in my life. Normally, I take time before retiring to bed but when I heard the news, I passed out after just under five minutes.

“I wanted to call it quit but after making some calls and putting some things into consideration I felt like I still I had a chance. I feel it like I could still be on the pitch doing what I love most.”

Baba recovered and went on loans to PAOK Salonika and Reading, before eventually moving from Chelsea to PAOK in 2023 – where he now plays his club football.

The Chelsea to PAOK transfer reportedly cost just over £1m and TransferMarkt has claimed that Baba’s market value has dropped from £12m to just £1.6 million in 2024. He has found a comfortable home at PAOK where he’s made 44 first-team appearances, scoring six goals and assisting four times from left-back. 

Things panned out very differently for Azpilicueta, meanwhile, with the Spaniard going on to win two Premier League titles and captaining the club to a Champions League triumph in 2021. It’s unfortunate that Baba wasn’t able to reach the heights he was predicted to reach by Mourinho at Chelsea but the return from injury that he’s had is impressive in its own right.