Demba Ba has explained quitting Newcastle United for Chelsea.

The striker says the security of Chelsea's contract was key to the decision.

He told ChronicleLive: “When Chelsea came to speak to me I saw the opportunity to play for a team that fights for titles every year. Every game you have to win, to score, to perform. This is what I saw first. People might talk about money but what I earned at Chelsea was not even 15% more than what I earned at Newcastle.

“At Newcastle, they gave me a contract where half of my wage was based on if I played or not. Why? Because of the reputation of having a dodgy knee, which followed me. No one knew this until today, when I told you. Half of my wage was if I played – meaning that if I don't play I would have been 15th to 20th best salary at the club in terms of numbers.

“I could have dropped out there and then with Newcastle but knowing myself, I'm confident enough that I'll perform and also I knew that I didn't have a dodgy knee. Only the press thinks I have a dodgy knee. I said: 'Let's do this then'.

“But it was the same as I did with West Ham. They said that if my knee breaks down, I'm automatically out of contract. OK, but if you do that at your end, can I do something at my end? My clause was if the club go down, I can leave on a free.

“I went to Newcastle and I wanted to play there. But it was not a great contract. So if you're going to do something like half of my wages on pay-as-you-play then I will ask for a release clause. They decided on £7million for the release clause, not me. This is the offer they got for me.

“When people think Demba left for money, first of all they have to know about my contract."