Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that he was encouraged to sign striker Radamel Falcao by his central defensive pairing of John Terry and Gary Cahill.

Falcao's arrival at Chelsea came as something a surprise after his disappointing spell on loan at Manchester United last season, but it seems that two high-profile rivals were impressed with what they saw from the Colombian hit-man.

"I spoke with John and Gary a lot about him and we think the bright movement is there," Mourinho said of the forward he signed on a season-long loan from Monaco. "The movement to get freedom in the box to score goals is there.

"Our players had difficulty to control him and we feel the potential is there. Let's see if he can improve his confidence, his happiness.

"At Porto, he was very good. When he was at Atletico [Madrid] and when I was in Real Madrid he was good, so there were a few years where I was watching him all the time.

"We have a good community of Portuguese-speaking people, plus the guys who were with him in Atletico, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis. Let's see if this situation can help him."