Jose Mourinho may not rate him as a defender but Paris St Germain centreback David Luiz  says there is no bad blood between him and former club Chelsea.

Luiz, who captained Brazil in their nightmare 7-1 defeat by Germany in the World Cup semi-finals in July, joined PSG in the close season for a fee of 50 million pounds ($80.17 million).

Chelsea manager Mourinho said he would only miss Luiz on a personal level and “as a central defender, not at all” but the player said it was his own decision to leave Stamford Bridge.

“It was my choice, my cycle had finished,” the mop-haired centre back told Reuters in an interview.

“I decided to move and PSG showed me a nice plan for the moment and for the future. When they showed it to me I decided it was where I wanted to go. Chelsea offered me a new contract. It was my decision to leave. I don’t have a problem with Mourinho.”

At Qatar-owned PSG, who have repeatedly stated their ambition to win the Champions League sooner rather than later, Luiz faces stiff competition for a place, at least as tough as it would have been against John Terry and Gary Cahill at Chelsea.

Even though compatriot Thiago Silva has been out injured for more than two months, Luiz has still had to fight for his place against Brazilian Marquinhos and Frenchman Zoumana Camara. The versatile former Chelsea man has played seven league games—as many as Marquinhos—while Camara has featured in four matches.

Asked what his favoured position was, Luiz replied with a smile: “I prefer inside the starting XI. It does not matter where I play, I just love to play football”.

Luiz, who can also operate in midfield, said he had put the embarrassment of the Germany defeat behind him. “It’s the past,” he added. “We keep what we did well and improve on what we did badly but it’s football. It’s a new season, football never stops.”

Luiz, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, said Ligue 1 was much the same as the Premier League in terms of technique. “There is more intensity (in England) than here but the quality is the same, the level is the same. It’s more about intensity,” he explained. “It can be more tactical here than there.”

Luiz said he would not celebrate if he scored for PSG against his former club in a Champions League game in the future. “I would not celebrate because I respect all the teams I have played for and Chelsea gave me a lot of good things,” he added. “I was happy at Chelsea as well. I respect the club and the fans.”

Related Story