Romeu – Chelsea told me to leave

Southampton defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu has claimed that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told him to leave Chelsea in the summer and the club wanted him to move on.

It was the club who told me I could go.

I did not expect it, although I came from a long injury and that always had an influence. With Villas-Boas, I believe my best time there but then came Di Matteo and when Benítez arrived I broke my cruciate ligament.

Due to the circumstances they had been sending me on loan in recent years. What I need now is to play. Then the Southampton chance arrived, which allows me to continue in the Premier and in a good team.

Romeu joined Southampton midway through August for a reported £5m from the reigning Premier League champions and has already featured in seven Premier League matches for the Saints.

It has been difficult for Romeu to break into Koeman’s starting line-up of late due to the fine form of Steven Davis, Victor Wanyama and Jordy Clasie. However, the 24-year-old Spaniard has impressed when he has played and looks to have a bright future with Southampton.

He joined Chelsea from Barcelona in 2011 but in four years he made just 22 league appearances for the Blues and had two loan spells away, first at Valencia and then more recently, at Stuttgart.

The midfielder joined Southampton so that he could find first team football in the Premier League and is happy to compete for his place.

We are doing things right (at Southampton). New good additions came in the summer and Koeman has continued the positive dynamics of (Mauricio) Pochettino. I signed with the idea of having playing time and reaching targets. I’m happy and eager to have continuity.