Makelele's claims, made in a new autobiography published in France today, came as Chelsea prepared for this afternoon's FA Cup final against Everton.

In 'Claude Makelele - Tout Simplement', the veteran midfielder claims that Mourinho and Terry fell out over playing time as the captain dealt with injury, and that Terry asked for a transfer.

"I thought Mourinho was practically untouchable, but a lot of players had complained about him, notably John Terry," Makelele wrote.

"When John Terry let his discontent be known to [chief executive Peter] Kenyon and asked him for an immediate transfer, (owner Roman) Abramovich reacted immediately: the departure of Terry was totally unimaginable, from the point of view of the supporters, the players or the club owners. Mourinho was packing his bags."

However, both Chelsea and Terry have strongly refuted Makelele's claims.

"This is not a true version of events with regards to the transfer request as there wasn't one," said a Chelsea spokesman.

"Nor was the captain responsible for the departure of Jose Mourinho, which was mutually agreed between Jose and the club."

A statement released through Terry's lawyers read: "It has been claimed that John was in some way involved with the removal of Jose Mourinho as manager.

"This is categorically untrue and there is no foundation in this allegation.

"We also confirm (should it even need confirming) that John has never asked to be transferred from Chelsea."

Chelsea have not won a trophy since Mourinho left, and will hope to change that at Wembley this afternoon.