José Bosingwa claims to be a passionate supporter of English football who used to watch four matches every weekend at his home in Portugal, so it came as a surprise yesterday when the Chelsea defender named Morten Gamst Pedersen as the most dangerous opponent he will face this season. Even the Norway midfield player would have been staggered to hear such heady praise.

Pedersen has been a consistently impressive performer for Blackburn Rovers since signing from Tromso four years ago, but not even his closest friends and family would describe him as the best player in the Barclays Premier League. Bosingwa begs to differ, however, ignoring players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Emmanuel Adebayor and Fernando Torres to plump for Pedersen as the man he was most looking forward to testing himself against after completing a £16.2 million move from FC Porto last month.

“I could watch three or four English Premier League games every weekend in Portugal, so I know what to expect and am looking forward to it,” Bosingwa said. “It's a very strong league and there are many good players, but the one that stands out for me is Pedersen. He's a great left winger and it will be good to play against him. Pedersen is very fast. I like the way he plays. He's not a typical left forward and likes to bring you into the game and cross the ball very quickly.”

Bosingwa's unexpected praise for Pedersen may suggest some inside knowledge of Ronaldo's proposed move to Real Madrid, but he insisted that he had not spoken to his Portugal team-mate about his future. The 25-year-old knows all about rejecting overtures from Manchester United, having turned them down this summer because Chelsea were quicker off the mark.

“It's good for the English league to have Cristiano here, but it's not my decision,” Bosingwa said. “Cristiano is an adult who can make his own decisions and it's down to him, really. I came to the club that showed more interest in me. I heard about United only in the press and I came to the right club who came to speak to me.”