Jose meets his Blues stars

Jose Mourinho got straight down to work in his new job as Chelsea manager yesterday by flying to Manchester to meet the club's England internationals.

After telling a press conference of his desire to build up a close relationship with his players, Mourinho proved good to his word, taking a private jet to a meeting with John Terry, Frank Lampard, Wayne Bridge and Joe Cole.

Although England are busy preparing for Saturday's final Euro 2004 warm-up match against Iceland, the meeting was approved by the Football Association and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Mourinho was accompanied to the meeting by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Chelsea's players are scheduled to return for pre-season training on 5 July but Mourinho could not wait to meet some of his new charges.

He said: "You can watch players on television, come to the stadium and play against them but you only get to know them after working with them in training. After 15 days working with the players, I will know about the side."

Mourinho shares his predecessor Claudio Ranieri's vision of a Chelsea team with young English players at their heart. Terry is likely to remain as captain, and Mourinho wished his players all the best for the European Championship in his native Portugal.

He added: "I want to have many English players in the team and I hope England reach the final or the semi-finals."