The Special One is two-faced towards his players. That is the suggestion about Jose Mourinho made by his former defender Glen Johnson, at least. Johnson, who the Portuguese manager jettisoned from Chelsea in 2006, rehabilitated his career at Portsmouth and after establishing himself as an England regular was unveiled as a £17m signing by Liverpool last week. He said he would like nothing better than to be drawn against Mourinho’s Internazionale in the Champions League “to show him what he missed”, adding: “There were a lot of things he told me that weren’t true.”

Johnson recalled an episode during Mourinho’s first season at Stamford Bridge when, with Chelsea due to meet Barcelona in the Champions League, the manager reinstated him in the first XI. Bought by Mourinho’s predecessor, Claudio Ranieri, Johnson had lost his place to a Mourinho signing, Paulo Ferreira. “We had a couple of games to play before the Barcelona match. Mourinho picked me for a game and told me in front of five witnesses that if I played well, I would keep the shirt,” Johnson said.

“I immediately told my agent that it didn’t matter how well I played, I would be dropped because Mourinho wouldn’t want me anywhere near the team for the Barcelona game. Sure enough I was voted man of the match — and I was dropped from the squad. You would have to ask Mourinho what his reasons were but I know it was because he didn’t want to see me play well and be forced to pick me for Barcelona. That was the day I knew I had to leave Chelsea. Managers have to stick to their word. You have to be able to trust them.”

Johnson claims to have “no bitterness” towards his former boss, saying: “I don’t see the point in bearing grudges,” but it is clear his treatment at Chelsea remains a source of motivation to him. After making just 18 Premier League starts in two seasons under Mourinho he was loaned to Portsmouth and moved permanently to Fratton Park in 2007. Since then, the 24-year-old’s career graph has taken a relentlessly upward trajectory. Fabio Capello brought him back into the England fold and made him first choice at right-back last season and Johnson rejected overtures from Manchester City — and one offering a return to Chelsea — before joining Liverpool.

“I left Chelsea because I had to play football. I got the feeling I was finished there when they signed Ferreira. Mourinho told me that wasn’t the case but there were a lot of things he told me that weren’t true. I remember speaking to my mates and telling them that while I was being paid to play football, playing football was the thing I was doing least in my life.

“Even when I got the odd chance in the first team, I knew even if I scored four goals I’d be out for the next game. That thing kills you as a professional footballer and I suppose I became a bit of a time bomb.

“It gives me a lift when I wonder what Mourinho thinks about what’s happened to me since I left Chelsea. He never spoke to me about why I wasn’t playing. He probably thought I would go to Portsmouth, fade away, disappear and not do anything in the game — and probably 70% of football fans thought the same. I think I’ve proved my point as far as Mourinho is concerned. People, even Jose Mourinho, make mistakes.”

Speculation that Johnson may soon be joined by Franck Ribery at Anfield has been scotched, with one Liverpool source describing as “laughable” the idea the club might bid for a player Bayern Munich price in the region of £60m. Meanwhile, Rafael Benitez, who is determined to keep Javier Mascherano in the face of interest from Barcelona and who has so far rejected the advances being made by Real Madrid for Xabi Alonso, said: “In this game you can’t guarantee anything. That’s a fact. But we have wanted to keep the spine of the team and improve the squad, not lose any players.

“Football is changing and there is big money around. We’ve had very big offers for players, our big players, and we said, ‘No’. We want to be stronger this season and compete even more.”

- Rafa Benitez has revealed that he turned down an offer for Fernando Torres, thought to be about £60m and to have come from an English club other than Manchester City, this summer. ‘We wanted to keep Fernando,’ he said. ‘It was a proper offer, a big one, but we said no and he wanted to stay here’