Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo says his first season at the club was “tough” and he lost confidence because of the pressure of his £115m price tag.
The Ecuadorian, 22, joined the Blues from Brighton last August for a £100m fee that could rise to a British club record £115m following a bidding war involving Liverpool.
He scored one goal and registered four assists in 48 games in his debut season as Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League, with manager Mauricio Pochettino leaving in May.
“The beginning was tough for me, because you are at a big club, the price, you always have to win every game,” Caicedo said.
“It was tough for me because when I was in Brighton, the pressure is less. At Chelsea, it is different. I felt a lot of pressure because you know the club, the history, the players who were there.
“But after the last four or five months, I felt more comfortable at the club.”
Asked if he lost confidence, Caicedo said: “Yes, confidence. I have the quality and I know the player I am. But sometimes if you are not strong in your mind, it is difficult.”
Caicedo praised a performance coach and his former manager Pochettino for getting him back on the right track.
“A lot of people around me helped me – Mauricio and his staff. They were with me when I felt like I was not the same Moises,” he said.
“[I asked them] ‘Please help me because I want to show my quality, my football.’ They were with me. I have a person outside of the club who helped me a lot to get the pressure out of my mind.
“A guy I speak to regularly told me, ‘Moises, you are a good player, you can do whatever you want on the pitch with responsibility. Just trust in yourself. If Chelsea paid that [much money] for you, it’s because you are a very good player.'”
New manager Enzo Maresca has begun to make his mark at Chelsea, and Caicedo said of the former Leicester City boss: “He plays like the same system that I played in Brighton. He wants the same.
“He wants me to show my quality, to have good personality, to show to my team-mates that I am the boss on the pitch.”
Liverpool agreed a £111m deal with Brighton for Caicedo before he chose to join Chelsea, a move he attributed to the Blues’ sustained show of interest.
“Chelsea was with me for a couple of months. I could not miss out on them. Because they were with me in tough moments when Brighton didn’t want to let me go,” Caicedo added.
“It was a difficult decision but, for sure, 100%, I knew I wanted to go to Chelsea.”
Chelsea face Real Madrid in their final US tour match in Charlotte on Tuesday evening (00:00 BST Wednesday) before returning to face Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.