Former Chelsea midfielder Alexei Smertin has recalled playing in England and France.

In France, Smertin also played for Bordeaux.

He told Legalbet: “The attitude towards coaches, for example, in France is different. Imagine saying, for example, to Yuri Pavlovich Semin: 'Yur, hello!' You can't say that, but you can say that to the head coach of Bordeaux.

"The coaches had a separate table there, I sat at the end, and they poured wine there and said: 'Alexey, try it."' I thought it was some kind of provocation. I thought: 'Well, I just signed a good contract, now they'll send me back to Lokomotiv.' Or Dugarry comes up and pours himself one or two glasses, which means it's normal.

"Was the atmosphere at Chelsea friendly? There are no friends at Chelsea at all. There are many nationalities there. There you are not obligated to shake someone's hand and no one will shake it if you don't extend it first.

"Have we celebrated birthdays together? What do you think?! Not a single person there in four years gave me their own phone number, not a single one invited me to visit. I didn't even remember half the team by name.

"The Chelsea players were not interested in each other. There was so much disunity, but there was collective solidarity. This is simply amazing."