The Mixed Tape

"I bid £750,000 for him, it was a lot of money for me then, and Chelsea accepted it. But the boy didn't want to leave Stamford Bridge at the time. I was close but at the death he didn't want to go."

Since then, Terry has forged a reputation as one of Europe's sturdiest defensive figures.

He continued: "John Terry's everything you want in a central defender, he's a born leader. He was only a boy then but, on a cold day in January at Nottingham Forest he was just like 'Bring it on'; he was fantastic."