Terry baffled by Makelele claims

Makelele claims, in a new autobiography called 'Tout Simplement' published in France on Saturday, that Mourinho and Terry fell out as the captain dealt with injury, and that Terry asked for a transfer.

"I thought Mourinho was practically untouchable, but a lot of players had complained about him, notably John Terry," Makelele wrote.

"When John Terry let his discontent be known to [chief executive Peter] Kenyon and asked him for an immediate transfer, (owner Roman) Abramovich reacted immediately: the departure of Terry was totally unimaginable, from the point of view of the supporters, the players or the club owners. Mourinho was packing his bags."

Both Chelsea and Terry strongly refuted Makelele's claims and after lifting the FA Cup at Wembley with a 2-1 win over Everton on Saturday, the Chelsea defender revealed how he and other senior players tried to persuade the board to keep Mourinho when news of his sacking reached them.

"Funnily enough, Mourinho called me on Friday and we spoke about it," said Terry. "It's bizarre, actually, because he knows the real truth and, if anything, I was one of three players phoning Roman at 1am or 2am the night I heard he'd been sacked, to keep him on.

"I was speaking to Peter Kenyon, speaking to Roman, speaking to Eugene (Tenenbaum) and hoping we could keep him.

"Myself, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were all fighting to keep him at two in the morning. So it's bizarre where it's come from.

"Me and Jose know the truth. It's bizarre that Maka has put this in his book, but I tried to call him Friday night and his phone was off. I'm sure I'll make contact in the next few days.

"Jose texted me and I called him straight back, and we spoke about the situation. We know what happened, the relationship between him and the football club. They parted on mutual terms."