Duffman Speaks

'I look at guys like Marcel Desailly in awe,' Damien says of his new skipper.

'I'm staring at him and thinking what he has achieved in his career; World Cup wins, European championship successes. It's amazing, but he is my team mate now and I can't wait to start playing alongside guys like him.

'It was a massive decision for me to join Chelsea, the biggest of my career. It would have been easy for me to stay at Blackburn, make sure I get a game every week and carry on as I was. I loved Blackburn and never wanted to leave, but you have to get away at some point and hopefully I make the most of this move. Now I want to prove I'm worth the money they paid for me.'

'They (Blackburn) received £17m for a player who they paid nothing for, so it's not a bad situation from their point of view,' he states.

'If the club didn't want me to go, they could have just kept on turning down offers from Chelsea and I would have had no problem in staying at Blackburn. But the reality is they accepted the offer and then it was up to me. It's not like I'm leaving on bad terms. I've said it might be nice to go back there and play for Rovers again one day and I mean that.'

Visit the Soccernet website for the rest of the interview...