John Terry has opened up on the moment Jose Mourinho revitalised his career just as Rafael Benitez had written it off.
The Chelsea and England legend was a near-constant at Stamford Bridge during his trophy-filled 19 years, except for one season in particular.
Terry and Benitez was a duo destined to failNews Group Newspapers Ltd
In 2012/13, Terry was rotated out of the team, making his fewest appearances since becoming a regular, with former Liverpool manager Benitez favouring other centre backs.
In fact, so averse to Terry was Benitez, that he told the club’s hierarchy it was time to let the no.26 go.
Revealing what was happening behind the scenes during a career low, Terry told Ellie Collins: “Benitez actually tried to get me out of the football club.
“Rafa told the owners I couldn’t play two games a week and that I had one year left on my contract and I was finished.”
Fearing for his future, Terry will have been pleased to see the Spaniard dismissed after a Europa League win.
And his replacement, long-time rival Mourinho, changed everything.
“I remember getting a phone call,” Terry said. “I was in Portugal on holiday at the time, and Mourinho called me and said: ‘JT I’m coming back’ and I had goosebumps.
“He said: ‘They’ve all been telling me that you’re finished and he said ‘you’re my captain and we’re going back and we’re going to win the league’. It’s actually quite emotional [thinking about it].
Terry still gets emotional remembering the callEllie Collins YouTube
“When he said it to me I was like ‘wow, that’s powerful, it’s me and you against the World again, let’s go again’ because that was the mentality he brought before.
“I remember we had a bottle of wine, me and my wife, and we were half way through and I said: ‘I’m not drinking, that’s it’.
“I woke up the following day and for the rest of the holiday for the next ten days I was running morning, afternoon and night and I went back so fit.
“We won the league [in 2014/15] and I played every minute of every game so it was pretty special and a big two fingers up to a lot of people at the time because I was written off and that Man believed in me more than anyone.”
