Cesar Azpilicueta joined our official travel partner Thomas Cook Sport for a Twitter Q&A on Friday at a very cold, snowy Cobham, and spent half an hour responding to questions from fans.
The Spanish right-back spent time reading and appreciating the queries that had been submitted to @thomascooksport using the appropriate #TCSaskAzpi where he provided an insight into his life in London, his career so far, and his enjoyment of playing alongside some of his team-mates here at Chelsea.
Responding to @Ziege09 who was intrigued to know what advice has helped most he said: ‘You must look to the future. You always need to improve to be a player and always give the team 100%.’
The former Marseille man told us, ‘I miss the sun in France, but I’m really happy here in London, even though the weather is cold and snowy. There is plenty to see and do here, so I really like it.’ However, it wasn’t easy when he first came to London. ‘It’s different here,’ he said, but ‘I have known Mata since I was 16, and it’s great to have other Spanish players here. They have helped me settle from day one, showing me around, helping me on and off the pitch, so it’s been great.’
@FelixSlack was keen to know who has been his role model and why, which Azpilicueta quickly responded wit:h ‘Luis Figo, he played on the right wing. He played in a similar position to me, and I liked his style of play.’
Next up, @gersjames asked which team he supported growing up. ‘I supported Osasuna when I was young, and I started playing for them too, so it was nice,’ responded the player. He also watched a lot of Premier League football too, including seeing the likes of John Terry and Ashley Cole play, as he expressed his pride at now sharing a changing room with them.
Having played for Chelsea against Aston Villa in December, Azpilicueta confirmed that the final score line was the ‘largest win, for sure’ of his professional career thus far, and is ‘looking forward to scoring his first goal for Chelsea.’ However, he confirmed, ‘the most important thing is playing as part of the team, and always having a winning mentality.’
Citing his ambitions at Chelsea, he said: ‘I want to win trophies. That’s the most important thing. To have a winning mentality, help the team and always play my best.’
Azpilicueta also picked out his favourite question, with the selected one being from @chrisarpar_14 who asked why he wears the number 28, and has been rewarded with a Chelsea shirt, signed by our number 28. The answer incidentally, was that it coincides with his birthday – August 28.
You can see all the questions and answers by logging onto Twitter and following @thomascooksport. You can also keep up with the club @chelseafc.