Liverpool midfielder Lazar Markovic insists he will be concentrating only on winning the match when he lines up against Chelsea in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semifinal on Tuesday night.
Markovic, 20, joined Liverpool last summer in a deal worth a reported 20 million pounds, but Chelsea had been tracking him before that and Jose Mourinho even turned down the chance to sign him.
Chelsea followed the player's development when he was at Partizan Belgrade, with the Serbian club's president Dragan Djuric revealing that the Blues decided against moving for the player. But they did have first refusal on Benfica's 50 percent share of the Serbia international when he was transferred to the Portuguese club in 2013.
That would have allowed Mourinho to sign the winger for a cut-price 12.5 million pounds last summer but did not take up the option, leaving Benfica to sell him on the open market for a higher fee.
But Markovic is not out for any kind of revenge, and just wants to help Liverpool get to Wembley where they would meet either Tottenham Hotspur or Sheffield United in the final.
"I will play this match like every other match and I don't have to prove or show anything to Mourinho," Markovic insisted. "That was Mourinho's opinion. I don't know who expected me to sign for Chelsea. I signed for Liverpool and I am extremely happy with my decision. Djuric is the ex-president so what he expected is different to what I expected.
"There was never any pressure from [fellow Serbia internationals Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic] to sign for Chelsea. Of course, there is more motivation to face Chelsea because of them. I am not sure I will be playing from the start but there is motivation to face them.
"I spoke to Matic before I signed for Liverpool. He told me that this is the best league and it will take time to adjust, because it took him time too, but I will get used to it.
"He said it was an extremely good decision. We will probably text each other before the game. Nothing special -- we will just joke about who is going to win and who is going to play better."