Moses hails impact of Azpilicueta on his Chelsea career
Victor Moses has paid tribute to Chelsea teammate Cesar Azpilicueta on the day that he was shortlisted for the prestigious BBC African Player of the Year award.
Moses was one of five men named on the shortlist for the award, alongside Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita and Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, and he was quick to praise his teammates for helping him achieve individual recognition.
When asked by Goal about which of his fellow Chelsea players have helped him the most, he said:
I’d say Azpilicueta [has influenced me most]. He played a huge part in my defensive development last season. He is always behind me, always constantly talking to me to make sure I am in the right position. When is the time to go and when’s the time to stay. The more games I was playing, we were getting used to the formation and position I was playing, which worked out well for me and he helped a lot. He understands me. We established a partnership which was very good.
Moses also said that he is keen to be named as Africa’s best player and that he is proud to be nominated for the same awards that ex-Chelsea stars have won.
Every season I want to be the best I can to be Africa’s best player. I will do the best I can. To be honest with you, it is just about hard work. Once you put in the hard work then everything else falls into place. I am a player that will always look up to Didier [Drogba]. He is a legend, not just Africa and Chelsea, but the whole world. Didier is a great player. He scores goals, assists and he’s got everything that you’d ask for in a striker. We as African players are all proud of what Didier achieved as a player. The way he holds himself is unbelievable. Mikel and Essien have been nominated too. I am proud that we were nominated for the same awards.
Voting is now open for the award and you can click here to cast your vote.