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Terry - Maka claims bizarre

John Terry holds Barcelona at bay for a full 90 minutes, but is left helpless at the death.
Image: Terry: Denies Makelele claims

John Terry says it is 'bizarre' that Claude Makelele claimed he had a role in Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea.

Blues skipper insists he tried to keep Mourinho as manager

Chelsea captain John Terry admits it is 'bizarre' that Claude Makelele claimed he played a role in Jose Mourinho's departure from Stamford Bridge. Writing in his autobiography, Makelele claims a falling out between Terry and Mourinho led to the Portuguese's exit in September 2007. Makelele alleged that Terry was willing to hand in a transfer request and the situation prompted the Blues to replace Mourinho, rather than see the defender leave. Terry and Chelsea have both denied the allegations from Makelele, who left the FA Cup winners to join Paris St Germain last summer. Blues skipper Terry has discussed the issue with Mourinho, and also hopes to speak with Makelele after being left baffled by his former team-mate's comments.

Real truth

"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 (Abramovich) 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."

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