I played for Jose Mourinho at Chelsea – he made amazing gesture after injury forced me to retire

Wayne Bridge, the former Chelsea and England left-back, has revealed an unexpected side of Jose Mourinho, known for his tough love approach to management. A decade on from hanging up his boots due to a knee injury, Bridge, now 43, reminisced about the support he received from Mourinho, who.

Speaking to , Bridge shared: "Yes, we got on well to be honest," when discussing his rapport with 'The Special One'. "There were hard times, but after I retired he was good to me because I went into for treatment after my injuries and he offered me a job."

He reflected on the ups and downs under tutelage, saying: "During my playing days, there were times when things weren't going too well, but I turned a corner with him and he put an arm around me and he'd tell me how well I was doing, but then I went and broke my leg.

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"There were good times with him, but there were also times that I found tough, and I don't know if that was him looking for a reaction from me. But generally, as a manager, he was great and as a person, he's always been really good to me throughout my career and after."

has been reflecting on old times and careers that have forked in very different paths since their days together at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho. The former England left-back who linked up with Mourinho's side during the Portuguese manager's successful first tenure at Stamford Bridge, left for Manchester City in 2009, two years after Mourinho departed for Inter Milan.

Bridge had his injury battles and eventually hung up his boots in 2014 after a short stint with Reading, taking his talents off the pitch to enter the world of reality TV with appearances in 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' and 'SAS: Who Dares Wins', meanwhile nurturing his poker skills on the side. He also enjoys family life with his wife Frankie and their two kids.

Mourinho, 61, has faced some tough times lately with less-than-stellar spells at Tottenham and Roma after an illustrious career in management. Still, speaking about his former gaffer's move to the Turkish Super Lig, Bridge was loath to write him off: "It's hard, isn't it? As a manager, if you always want to be involved, then sometimes you can go into a new job with a new group of players and it can be difficult to work your magic," said Bridge.

"The players could struggle to put into action the things that you're asking them to do. You can't say that going to Turkey is a bad thing because he loves the game of football and he may go there and do a good job."