There is little love lost between a lot of people at Chelsea and Jose Mourinho these days but try telling that to Cesc Fabregas.

The most successful manager in Chelsea’s history has become persona non grata to many at Stamford Bridge since he took over Manchester United two years ago.

Mourinho has seemingly gone out of his way to aim barbs in his former club’s direction, most noticeably at coach Antonio Conte.

The Portuguese, who led Chelsea to seven major trophies in two spells, now stands in the way of their last chance of claiming any silverware this term at the FA Cup Final on Saturday.

But while Blues fans might not regard Mourinho as their ‘Special One’ any more, Fabregas’s appreciation remains undimmed. It was Mourinho, not his former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, who brought the 31-year-old back to England in 2014. He pushed Chelsea to buy the midfielder from Barcelona for £30million.

No one can dispute the acquisition has been a great success. The Spain international has claimed three winners’ medals, two of which were in Mourinho’s last full campaign in charge of the west London club. “I love him,” Fabregas said. “I owe him a lot because he brought me here and I will always remember that.

“Arsene always treated me like a son and it was amazing but the closest anyone else has been to him was Jose.

“The way he treated me, the way he made me feel, how he let me be a leader of the Chelsea team from day one and believed in me, this was fantastic and will always stay with me.

“It [this experience at Chelsea] is thanks to him. Our history, what had happened between us before I came, made it even more remarkable.

“When I played for Arsenal, he was with Chelsea. When I was at Barcelona, he was with Real Madrid. We were confronting each other but then we humbled ourselves and started a good relationship.”

While hardly a failure, Fabregas’s second spell at Barcelona, between 2011-14, did not go as well as he hoped.

The £35m move from Arsenal back to the Catalan giants was billed as the return of the prodigal son, Fabregas having left the Spanish club’s academy at 16 for Wenger’s side.

But affection from the Barcelona supporters waned over the course of three years and by the end, Fabregas was starting to lose his spark on the pitch.

It was Mourinho who gave it back to him. He said: “I was happy at Barcelona but there were players who were there for many years before me and the fans had them in their heart.

“For me, it was different because I left and came back — they paid money for me. It is more difficult. I never had the same love that the other players had. That’s also because they were such fantastic players.

“When Mourinho brought me to Chelsea, he brought back a lot of energy and fire inside of me. It was a fantastic year with him to be honest.”

​Mourinho was sacked in December 2015 after a major downturn in results and his switch to United six months later has made this fixture even more of a must watch. The League games have been split over the past two years, with Chelsea losing both times at Old Trafford, including a 2-1 defeat in February that proved costly in their failed pursuit of a top-four finish.

Given so many of the current players worked under Mourinho, one might assume that Chelsea would have a good inside track on how he operates tactically and therefore an advantage for the Cup final.

But when asked if this was the case, Fabregas said: “No. We have played a few games against them and he has changed the system many times.

“I am sure he will change something again on Saturday. You can expect that, for sure. Mourinho prepares for finals very, very well.

“This year at Manchester United we played well, went 1-0 up, could have had more and in one moment they scored. In the second half, it was not good and we tried to change things around but maybe it was a little bit too late.

“I think it is those moments that we sometimes lacked this season. Sometimes we need to finish the game off, not to give opportunities to others to come back.

“That game is an example of what we could have done better this year.”

To have any chance, Conte’s men will have to perform better than they did in their 3-0 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday.

“The League season ended on a very negative day but there’s no other way than to pick ourselves up,” Fabregas said.

“Training on Tuesday was maybe quiet because everyone was a bit down but we have to stand up and try to win this one, especially for the fans.”