Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea on Monday, with the smiling 'Special One' saying he was now the 'Happy One' on his second coming as manager of the Premier League club he has always loved.
With some 250 reporters from home and abroad and dozens of television crews crowding into a suite at Stamford Bridge, there was never any doubt about the Portuguese retaining his media pulling power of old.
"If I have to choose a nickname for this period, I would choose 'the Happy One'," he declared. "I am very happy.
"Time flies. It looks like it was a couple of days but it was nine years ago when I first became manager," he said after entering the room to a barrage of camera flashes.
"I have the same nature, I am the same person," the title-winning former Real Madrid and Inter Milan manager assured reporters, adding that he had the same heart and emotions.
"I would describe myself as a very happy person. It is the first time I arrive in a club where I already love the club. Before I had to build an emotional relationship and I only came to love the club a little later."
Mourinho won the 2005 and 2006 Premier League titles in his first spell with the west London club but departed in 2007.
It was widely reported that he had suffered a breakdown in his relationship with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, a claim the Portuguese was keen to play down.
"I read and I kept listening I was fired, I was sacked, we had a complete break of relationships," he said. "That was not true. Many people didn't believe in that, but it was mutual agreement.
"At the time we thought it was best for both of us, me and the club. It was a sad moment. Of course it was a sad moment, but I don't regret that decision."
Since leaving Chelsea, Mourinho spent two years at Inter Milan where he won two Serie A titles, the domestic cup and the Champions League before moving to Real Madrid he won a La Liga title and a King's Cup.
The Portuguese has never spent more than three years managing at a single club, but he hopes to at least to see out his four-year deal with Chelsea.
"Yes, and now I'm prepared for that," he said when asked if he wanted more stability in his career. "Before I wasn't. I had always this kind of mentality...
"I have a contract for four years. I hope to go the last day of that contract. If the club then wants me to stay, I'll be more than happy."
Mourinho inherits a side who again qualified for the Champions League, after finishing third in the Premier League last season.
The 'Special One' relied heavily on the likes of John Terry (32) and Frank Lampard (34) during his first spell in charge of the club, but both players could not hold down a regular first-team place last season under interim manager Rafael Benitez.
The duo are approaching the latter stages of their respective careers and if they are looking for any favours from their old boss, they will not get them. "There are still a few boys from my (first) time (at Chelsea)," Mourinho said.
"It is always good to go back and see these people who gave absolutely everything to me when I was here. But it's important to tell you - not them, because they know - that there is no privilege for them. They know my nature. They don't have an advantage in relation to the other people.
"After (I left) Chelsea did very well to get young boys with great potential, great ability and a great future, and I look forward to trying to improve them."
Terry in particular cut a disappointed figure last season. Just a few months after lifting the Champions League, the Chelsea captain was kept out of the team because of a knee injury and he struggled to find form and fitness upon his return. Mourinho refused to criticise Benitez - with whom he has clashed on several previous occasions - for dropping Terry.
"I will talk only about the future. Benitez's decisions are Benitez's decisions, I am respectful of that," the Chelsea manager said. "I will meet John in July and try to get the best out of him. I know what he can give, let's try to make him again a very important player, which he couldn't be last season."
Mourinho joked that he could end up with a squad of 60 players next season if he landed all the targets he has been linked with since it was confirmed that he would return to Stamford Bridge.
The former Real Madrid boss admitted he would bring in a couple of new faces and it appears that he also plans to keep Belgian duo Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne, who were loaned to West Brom and Werder Bremen.
Mourinho added: "They are the type of players Chelsea have invested a lot into in the past, and it's my work to extract the best from those investments. Both of them are ready to come and be ready for my squad."
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