Danny Higginbotham has insisted that Asmir Begovic did not agree to join Chelsea solely for financial gain.
The Bosnian goalkeeper completed his switch to the West Londoners from Stoke City yesterday afternoon for a fee reportedly in the region of £8m.
However, with Thibaut Courtois already in place at Stamford Bridge, it is expected that Begovic will primarily be used as the Belgian's understudy by Jose Mourinho, just as the experienced Petr Cech was last season.
That has raised questions as to the motivation behind Begovic's decision to give up regular starting action, but Higginbotham, who played alongside the 28-year-old at Stoke, has told Sports Mole that money would not have been a contributing factor.
"Maybe when he sat down with Jose Mourinho, he was told to prove that he was better than Courtois," said the former Potters defender.
"Asmir is not a player that is driven by money - he never has been. He's not thought to himself he'll get loads of money for sitting on the bench. His aim will be to force his way into the first team."
Despite that, Higginbotham also conceded that the move to Chelsea may have come too early for his former teammate, who is "too good" to sit among the substitutes on a consistent basis.
"He's a fantastic goalkeeper - one of the best I played with, but there was an in-between move before Chelsea. Asmir is a great lad and the ultimate professional. I hope he can take Courtois out of the Chelsea team, but there was another step before going to Chelsea.
"Asmir is too good of a goalkeeper to join a football club as a number two. He's not signed there to be Chelsea's number one, he's there as a number two to push Courtois."
Begovic spent five years with Stoke, for whom he made over 150 appearances.
Liam Apicella
