Jose Mourinho didn't pick me for Chelsea as I'm not a star, claims Demba Ba

Demba Ba left behind plenty of friends at Chelsea when he moved to Besiktas this summer but he can’t disguise some irritation that Jose Mourinho never gave him a proper chance at Stamford Bridge. Ba, the major threat to Arsenal in their Champions League play-off first leg in Istanbul on Tuesday, scored 14 goals in 23 starts for Chelsea. But he was only ever called upon by Mourinho when Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o were unavailable. ‘Sometimes when you are at a club with a lot of big stars, the name counts for more than the statistics. Unfortunately, it was like that in my case,’ said the 29-year-old Senegal striker. ‘But I am happy I moved from Newcastle to Chelsea and achieved what I did. I have lots of friends there. Eden Hazard is one of my best friends, I am close to Branislav Ivanovic, too. All my wishes are for them to win the league.’ Chelsea begin their title campaign at Burnley on Monday but Ba’s focus will be on the big game 24 hours later when 76,000 fans will cram into Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium, scene of Liverpool’s famous win in the 2005 Champions League final.