New Chelsea playmaker Deco brushed off Alex Ferguson's jibes about the team's age as he insisted he still had room to develop at the age of 30.
Deco, who looked immediately at ease in his team debut, said Chelsea represented a fresh challenge after glittering spells at Porto and Barcelona.
“I've got a lot of new things to learn,” he said. “I consider coming to Chelsea as a challenge.
“Overall I think Chelsea has a very strong team and there are definitely still things to learn, despite being 30.”
Deco is one of several players aged 30 or more in Chelsea's first-team squad, prompting remarks from Manchester United's Ferguson that they were too old to improve.
New Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has refused to rise to the bait, repeatedly stonewalling questions on the subject.
“No comment, no comment,” he told journalists.
The Brazilian-born Deco, who also played under Scolari with Portugal, lasted 62 minutes as Chelsea romped to a 4-0 win over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on Wednesday.
But he said there was much to work on as Chelsea chase the Premiership and Champions League titles which narrowly eluded them last term.
“I thought Chelsea played well, seeing as it was the first game in Asia, but we didn't think we played our best,” he said.
“So we're looking forward to the next match and hope we play to our capability.”
Chelsea face Chengdu Blades in Macau on Saturday before heading to Malaysia and then Russia for the Railways Cup.
