“He said that if we kept going on he’d go and buy Varane and two other big defenders” – John Terry recalls training incident with Gary Cahill and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
John Terry claims that Jose Mourinho threatened to replace him and Gary Cahill at Chelsea if they did not improve his displays in training.
The legendary Blues captain recalled his first training session during Mourinho's second spell at the club after he was appointed manager in 2013. The Portuguese manager returned to great acclaim from Chelsea fans following his incredible first spell in charge. He delivered the club two Premier League titles between 2004-07.
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@JohnTerry26 & @ClaudeMakelele reveal all about our legends in @ThreeUK's next #ConnectWith episode! https://t.co/akwsaP7An0
Mourinho went on to deliver the west London club's third title in 2015 but Terry has told Chelsea's official website what his former boss said to him at training. The former England captain stated:
"In the first training session, me and Gaz kept giving the ball away. He said that if we kept going on he'd go and buy (Raphaël) Varane and two other big defenders!"
Varane was at Real Madrid at the time, breaking through as a promising youngster who would go on to become one of Europe's leading centre-backs.
John Terry:
"In the first training session [in Jose Mourinho's second spell at #Chelsea], me and Gaz [Gary Cahill] kept giving the ball away. He said that if we kept going on he'd go and buy [Raphaël] Varane and two other big defenders!"
[via @ChelseaFC / YouTube]
Terry formed an incredible partnership with his England teammate Cahill for five seasons as they won two Premier League titles together.
Former England striker believes new Chelsea signing is making a mockery of John Terry's shirt number
Plenty was expected of Kalidou Koulibaly upon his arrival from Napoli earlier this summer, but he has endured a poor start to life at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have won just three of their eight games in all competitions this season and the 31-year-old defender is looking seriously off the pace.
Koulibaly is the first Chelsea player to wear the number 26 since Terry's departure in 2017, but Peter Crouch has been far from impressed with the defender.
The former England striker discussed the importance of squad numbers on That Peter Crouch Podcast, as he stated (as per Daily Star):
“For John Terry at Chelsea, that probably warrants it Obviously, that Koulibaly has come in and gone ‘can I take the 26?’ You know because JT is obviously retired. He’s come in, he’s took it, and he’s making a right pig's ear of it isn’t he?”
The Senegal international was dropped from the starting lineup for Graham Potter's first game in charge against Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League. The Blues have not played a game since, so he will have to be patient to see whether he will be back in the starting lineup before long.
Really want this guy to succeed at Chelsea. Tough start, but fully expect to see the best of Koulibaly again soon 💙 https://t.co/R9i7RQnqUm