Jose Mourinho has hailed John Terry's form last season as "phenomenal" after admitting he was concerned the Chelsea captain was "finished" at the club.
Terry, 34, was an ever-present as Chelsea won the Premier League and was also named in the PFA team of the season for the first time since 2005-06. His manager back then was Mourinho and now, in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, the Portuguese is getting the best out of the veteran defender.
"When I came, I came with that question mark: 'Which John am I going to find?' What can he do? Can he improve? Can he become close to the John I know?" Mourinho told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview. "And last season was phenomenal. Phenomenal. I think the best season."
The centre-back's consistent form was a far cry from the struggles he had endured in previous seasons, most notably 2012-13 when, after injury interrupted the early part of Terry's season, then-Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez said he could not guarantee him a place in the starting lineup.
Mourinho, in charge of Real Madrid at the time, watched as his one-time captain fell out of favour and started just 24 of the 69 games Chelsea played in all competitions.
"And certainly a couple of years ago, he disappeared," said Mourinho. "A couple of injuries, one or two managers that stopped believing in him at the club, bringing in other defenders that they thought would be John's replacement.
"And especially in the season before I came, which was Rafael Benitez's season, I thought 'this guy's finished' because he's not playing finals, he's not playing in big matches. I thought he was in trouble."
Mourinho named Terry as his permanent captain upon arriving at Chelsea in 2004 and the pair enjoyed great success together, winning back-to-back league titles as well as the League Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup two years later.
"John was 23, 24-years-old," recalled Mourinho. "I thought he had fantastic potential and just needed the next step in terms of quality and qualities around him, the way we organised the team, not only as an individual but as a team.
"We built a fantastic team in 2004, defensively we were very strong. So John reached the top. He won everything with Chelsea, he was the captain of England. John reached the top."
Watch more from ESPN FC's exclusive interview with Jose Mourinho on this website and ESPN FC TV (nightly in the U.S. at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS and WatchESPN). Plus, ESPN FC TV debuts on BT Sport in the UK on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.