Chelsea have signed Deco, the Portugal midfielder, from Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, thought to be close to £8 million, on a two-year deal.

The talented playmaker had recently been told by Pep Guardiola, the new Barcelona coach, that he did not feature in their future plans.

"It is good for me to be here and first of all I am very happy to be here," Deco told Chelsea's official website.

The 30-year-old becomes the Blues' first signing since Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was appointed manager earlier this month.

Deco joined Barcelona from Porto in 2004 after helping the Portuguese side win the Uefa Cup, Champions League and domestic league titles under Jose Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager.

He won two league championships at the Nou Camp, and was part of the team that beat Arsenal in the Champions League final in Paris in 2006.

"I am sure I have come at the right time to do great things and be able to help Chelsea go back to the way it was and come back to being the first one, not only in England but also to win the Champions League that has been their dream for so long," Deco added.

"The Premier League is a great league and it is getting better and you can see that with the Champions League final, where you had two English teams."

The Brazil-born player's exit from the Nou Camp proved to be protracted due to the Catalans' valuation of around £11million for the player despite his age.

That price seemed to have deterred Inter Milan - who were also apparently interested - but Chelsea have managed to negotiate the price down.

Mourinho, who coached him during their time at Porto, was linked with the diminutive schemer on numerous occasions during his Stamford Bridge tenure and was reportedly interested in signing him after taking over at Inter recently.

Deco's arrival is Chelsea's second signing of the summer after Jose Bosingwa, his international team-mate .

"It is great that we have so many great players here at Chelsea and it is great that there is the competition which is healthy for everybody and this just makes the team better," Deco said.

"To have great players in any position of the club just enhances the club. I know it is a new challenge but I am looking forward to it."