John Terry feared that his Chelsea career was fading out slowly under interim manager Rafael Benitez, who preferred to keep faith in younger players over him during the latter stages of last season. In came Mourinho in the summer, and that seemed to have worked immediate wonders for Terry.

Mourinho forged a strong bond with the Englishman during his first stint at Chelsea, and entrusted him enough to stick with him and to bring him back into the fold straightaway this time around. That has revitalized Terry, who has started each and every league game this season. The new found confidence has translated into some strong performances on the pitch, as Terry is enjoying one of his best seasons ever, and all at the age of 33.

The former English international now reveals that the secret behind this revival was a private chat he had with Mourinho upon his return to Stamford Bridge, as reported by Yahoo! Eurosport. He said, “The manager was straight with me from day one,”

“When Jose came in, after the first week he said, ‘For me, nothing has changed. You’re still top, you can still work and play at the top.’  At the time the manager spoke about it, I think I needed it and, when I got that from him, it not only made me feel 10 ft tall, but it made me want to work even harder for the man in charge.”

Mourinho has clearly had a visible impact on Terry and his career, which previously seemed to be on the decline. With this new lease of life, can a renewed Terry lead his team to glory this season?