Cesc Fabregas has admitted he never would have dreamed of playing for Jose Mourinho three years ago when the two were arch-enemies in Spain.

The Chelsea midfielder now says he’s happier than ever playing for the former Real Madrid manager, compares him with Pep Guardiola, and says he is desperate to win the European Cup with him.

Asked in an interview in El Pais in Spain if he could ever have imagined working for Mourinho he says: ‘Three years ago no. It just shows you how you can never tell in life, and even more so in football. We had a very intense rivalry with Mourinho. It never reached the level of hatred, not even close, but there were disagreements with him and [John] Terry too. Chelsea were always the team that I most wanted to beat.’

Cesc Fabregas (right) admits his rivalry with Jose Mourinho (second left) was very strong in Spain

Fabregas, now at Chelsea, sees Mourinho in a different light and has put the past behind him

Hazard compared Pep Guardiola (left) and Mourinho, saying they both have a winning mentality

Asked how Terry received Fabregas into the dressing room when he joined last summer the Spain international said: ‘He told me that anything I needed I could count on him.

'We have now reached the stage where we can tell the tales of some of the battles we had to some of the younger players, and I certainly had some battles, especially with Terry and [Frank] Lampard.’

Fabregas was a London rival for both Terry and Mourinho when he signed for Arsenal from Barcelona. He then took the rivalry with Mourinho back to Spain with him when he returned to play for his boyhood team and the Chelsea manager took over at Real Madrid.

Having worked for both Mourinho and Pep Guardiola he says they are not as unlike as they are often portrayed.

Fabregas had a huge rivalry with Mourinho while they were at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively

Fabregas clashed with Frank Lampard and Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final in 2011-12

Fabregas, now flying at Chelsea, compared his current team-mate Eden Hazard with Lionel Messi (right)

‘They have one very important thing that unites them’ he said. ‘They are winners. They both hate losing. It's a mistake to think they are so different.’

Fabregas believes the similarities are even on the increase now that Chelsea have started playing a style of football closer to that played by Guardiola. He said: ‘This is not a team that sits and waits for the other side to attack. We want the ball and we want to attack.’

The Chelsea midfielder is hoping to win his first Champions League with Chelsea after losing the Paris final with Arsenal in 2006 and failing to lift the trophy for Barcelona.

He said: ‘I would like to win it at least once. At the same time I don’t want it to become an obsession. I want to win everything with Chelsea.’

Fabregas says Hazard (left) is similar to Messi physically, as well as being honest and always wanting the ball

Fabregas joined Barcelona from Arsenal in 2011, and after three years moved back to England with Chelsea

Fabregas again dismissed the idea that he had any sway in making Leo Messi turn his back on Barcelona to move to London and he said he believes, in Eden Hazard Chelsea have a player who can reach the heights of the Argentine.

He said: ‘There are even physical comparisons with the way he is short, strong and impossible to knock off the ball. He is honest, he never goes to ground, he always wants the ball, he doesn’t over-elaborate for the sake of show and he is just a very, very good player. He has the quality to go very far but he should maybe more ambitious when he’s in front of goal.’

For now it’s Fabregas that is scoring the lion’s share of goals from midfield despite playing in a deeper role for Chelsea than he did at Barcelona.