Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hailed Cesc Fabregas as the future of the club.

The Portuguese tactician watched on as the Spanish international scored in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros on Sunday.

Former Arsenal captain Fabregas, signed this summer from Barcelona, has arrived at Stamford Bridge this summer as something of a replacement for club legend Frank Lampard, the club's all-time leading scorer who departed following the end of his contract.

And whilst Mourinho acknowledges that Lampard - a three-time Premier League winner with the Blues - is a major part of the club's history, he has declared Fabregas as the man to lead Chelsea from the centre of midfield.

"Frank is the history of the club, history nobody can forget," said Mourinho. "Fabregas is the future; history is history but the future is more important at the moment.

"My opinion, and the opinion of my players, is that Fabregas is the right player to occupy that central position in midfield."

Cesc Fabregas Barcelona career

150

Appearances

42

Goals

57

Assists

The Blues head to Burnley on the opening Monday of the season, to take on Sean Dyche's newly-promoted side.

And Mourinho says that despite some players having only recently returned from their summer breaks - most notably World Cup winner Andre Schurrle - his side are ready for the big kick-off.

"It’s been a difficult pre-season because we started with seven players," added Mourinho.

"After that, step by step, players were arriving after the World Cup and holidays. Finally, in this last week we’ve had everybody together but obviously not everyone is prepared. For example, Ivanovic has been training for one month, Schurrle has trained for five days, so there is a big difference between players.

"We have to play the first league match next weekend and we will be ready for that."

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