Florent Malouda explains where Chelsea must strengthen, makes bold Man Utd claim and reveals how close he was to joining Liverpool

Chelsea winger Florent Malouda won the Champions League, Premier League and three FA Cups during his six seasons with the Blues between 2007-13.

In an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes ahead of the launch of the 5-A-Side bet for Sunday’s mouth-watering clash between Chelsea and Tottenham, the Frenchman talked about Manchester United, Conor Gallagher, Jose Mourinho and the best footballer he has played alongside.

But he kicked off our chat by talking about where Chelsea can improve before the summer transfer window closes.

Where Chelsea can still strengthen

The manager has spoken about the need for a new holding midfielder, and I think that’s an area the team should be looking at strengthening before the transfer window closes.

I also believe another offensive player would be a welcome addition; there’s a good opportunity for a top striker to come into the side. I’d say they still need to bring in another central defender because they haven’t directly replaced Antonio Rudiger as of yet, but the priority for me would be a holding midfielder. Those are the areas which need strengthening if you want to consistently be competing with Man City and Liverpool.

Raheem Sterling was a very good signing. He brings with him a lot of experience and I’m expecting big things from him this season. He has that winning mentality which is needed at any club trying to compete at the top.

Man United will struggle to make top five

It’s really strange when it comes to Manchester United at the moment. When you look at the value of all of the players they have at the club, there’s some real quality in there. But they’re just completely lacking in confidence, and that lack in confidence comes from the lack of results. If you look at their squad, they have some top players and great prospects.

But every time a manager comes in, he’s immediately in the hot seat. There’s an immediate pressure to get the club back to the highest level, but in terms of results, things have been shaky.

And even if you wanted to go out and strengthen, even if you had money to spend, it’s not always easy to just go out and bring in the best players  – we’re seeing that with Frenkie de Jong.

It’s going to be difficult for them to finish in the top five, put it that way. They’re already late to the party this season. They were early in bringing in the manager, but the way pre-season has gone and the poor start they had to the season means, for me, they will struggle to finish in that top five. All the other top teams have been very busy in the transfer market, have had decent pre-seasons and shown a certain level of stability. I just don’t see that with Man United this season.

Conor Gallagher has to raise his level again

I’m most looking forward to seeing Raheem Sterling’s impact on the team this season. I hope N’Golo Kante will stay fit for the whole season because he’s still a major factor to Chelsea’s success. And then you’ve got Edouard Mendy, who I believe is so important to the team. You need everybody to be at their highest level in any season – but in particular this year because that schedule is so different with the winter World Cup.

But then, aside from those experienced names, you’ve got someone like Conor Gallagher, who I’m really looking forward to seeing play this season. He’s returned after a few successful loan spells, but this is a higher level now and he’ll have to raise his game again. He’s certainly got the potential to have an impact on things this season, but he’s going to have to deliver week in, week out for a Chelsea team who will be competing on all fronts. That’s not something he’s been used to doing in his career yet, so I’m curious to see how he manages it.

I was so close to joining Liverpool

I remember first hearing about the interest in me from Liverpool when I was at Lyon. At the time my manager was Gerard Houllier, who of course had a connection with the club and so I spoke to him about the rumours. Right there and then he called the club and checked the rumours were true on my behalf. At the time I think it was Rafa Benitez in charge of Liverpool, and it looked very much like I’d be signing for the club.

Gerard was discussing the terms of my contract for me while he was my manager at Lyon. He was desperate for me to experience the Premier League, and I will always be grateful that he helped to give me that opportunity – even though he was trying to oversee a move to Liverpool!

I can’t even remember how or why the move broke down, but whatever the issue was, as soon as the offer came in from Chelsea, my heart was with them.

Hilarious first chat with Mourinho; “you need to thank your ‘manager’, Didier!”

I joined Chelsea when I’d have been around 27. Moving to a new country didn’t faze me. Although I had played all of my football in France up until that stage of my career, I came over to Europe from South America when I was 15, so I was used to moving around to play football.

I just felt so ready for my next challenge, which was to win the Champions League. After the 2006 World Cup, I had one more season in France, but I knew I was ready to move to England. In my first season we reached the Champions League final in Moscow, so I knew straight away I’d made the right decision.

My first conversation with Jose Mourinho was great. I was so relieved to have got the green light to travel to London to finalise my contract, and the first time I spoke to him, after the initial congratulations, he told me I needed to thank my friend, Didier [Drogba], for getting the deal across the line! He referred to Didier as my manager, and told me he’d done a good job to bring me to the club.

We talked for a while about which number I was going to wear. In France I wore the number seven shirt, so I asked Jose about the availability of that.

“No, Sheva [Shevchenko] is number seven. Forget about it!”

“Okay, okay, which numbers are available, then?”

“Your brother Didier [Drogba] wore number 15 for a couple of seasons when he arrived, before he changed to number 11, so why don’t you wear that? Take your brother’s number!”

So that was how and why I ended up with the number 15 shirt at Chelsea.

The main reason I chose to sign for Chelsea was because of that connection I already had with Michael [Essien] and, of course, Didier [Drogba] from our time in France. It was nice to have everyone back together and from the moment I walked through the door, everything just made sense.

It was a pretty short story as far as my relationship with Jose went, because he left a couple of months after I signed. But I have always had the utmost respect for him. I was so happy to work with him. It was a totally different approach to anything I’d ever experienced before. The way he would address his players, and the pressure he would put on us, the way he knew exactly what to say to each and every one of us to make us tick – I didn’t know it at the time but it was exactly what I was looking for in a boss.

Life after Mourinho – we won a lot of trophies without him

For me, it was a strange experience when Jose Mourinho left Chelsea in 2007. I’d only been with the club a couple of months so already everything was new to me, and then all of a sudden I’m playing under a different manager.

But what made us champions was our ability to adapt as a unit; the way we took the news in and were then able to focus on the next game. For two days there was so much drama around the club, but everyone internally was able to focus on the next game. You see the news and you hear the rumours, of course, but we had a game to prepare for. That switch, for me, just made me realise you had to be on your toes at all times.

Everyone had to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions now that our manager was gone, and there was still a long way to go in the season. But we had so many characters in that dressing room, and this is what made us so successful. When you see what happened next, in the years after Jose, those experienced players deserve a lot of credit. It’s when you’re at your most difficult moments, you find togetherness and you fight for each other on the pitch. So yes, it was a shame I didn’t get to work with Jose for longer, but this is football, and we won a lot of trophies without him.

Zidane the best footballer I played with

My favourite footballer to play with? It’s definitely Zinedine Zidane. Despite the amount of great names I’ve worked with for my country and across the clubs I represented, it has to be Zidane.

In my career, there was a before and an after playing with Zizou. For me it was a dream to play alongside him because he actually retired in 2004 from international football, before coming back for the 2006 World Cup.

I learned so much from observing him. I can say there are parts of my game that changed as a result of Zizou’s influence. The way he approached matches, I would just observe his discipline. Even if you have talent, you need to work on so many more aspects. I also learned a lot about handling pressure from watching him, as well. When he returned to the international squad he pretty much had the weight of a country on his shoulders and he just took it all completely in his stride.

There were times where he wouldn’t even talk to us, he would just lead by example and we would follow. He was so focused and his attitude was so calm. He was constantly making us all feel confident and positive on the pitch. “Don’t worry; I’ve got you.” How does he do that? How is he so calm? There must have been so many opponents who will have wanted to break his legs, but he’s just so calm. He scores unbelievable goals, he trusts you, and this is one of the most important traits – especially for a player of his stature. To feel trusted by someone so gifted is a great feeling. You give him the ball and he’ll give it back to you. He was in his element on that football pitch, and so were we, because of him.

His reading of the game is unbelievable; no one could see what Zizou saw.