Juan Mata has opened up on the relationship he shared with his former Spanish teammates at Chelsea.

Mata joined Chelsea from Valencia in 2011, at a time when there was a strong Spanish presence in the Blues squad.

Players like Cesar Azpilicueta, Fernando Torres and Oriol Romeu were all at Chelsea when Mata arrived, and they all shared a great friendship on and off the pitch.

Mata, who currently plays for Japanese club, Vissel Kobe, told the official Chelsea website about his time with his Spanish teammates: “It was super important. First, to have Fernando, he was actually for me very important in the decision to go to Chelsea. He called me before when the interest was there and he told me how life was there, how the club wanted me and the coach.”

“It made my decision easier. I had so much respect, admiration, and love for Fernando as a player and a person. He was a great help.”

“Oriol arrived at the same time, and he is one of the best humans I’ve met in my whole life, not only in football. It was fantastic to be there with him, to get to know such an amazing personality. We speak a lot still.”

“It was definitely one of my positives at Chelsea to get to know better Fernando and get to know Oriol, and Azpi who arrived later.”

“We were more than team-mates, we were friends. I’m very grateful we spent so much time together, but we also integrated ourselves very good in the dressing room with all of the personalities and other cultures and nationalities.”

“I think that was the key with winning the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Europa League, to have a great energy in the dressing room.”