WHEN Steve Bruce delivers his team talk ahead of this afternoon’s match at Chelsea, he will not need to introduce John Terry’s merits to the Sunderland strikers.

These days every fan, every player and every manager has an opinion on the England captain, but Bruce was one of the first to identify Terry’s potential – and he came within a whisker of signing him.

It was 11 years ago, when the centre-back was just 19, that Bruce first came across the defender and was immediately convinced by the player’s character.

The Sunderland boss had only been in charge of Huddersfield for a matter of days when he decided to make a six-figure offer to Chelsea for the teenager’s services. To Bruce’s surprise it was accepted.

“I went to do my coaching badges at Notts Forest,” said Bruce. “David Platt invited me and (Gianluca) Vialli there. It was a cold miserable afternoon and I saw John Terry in his short sleeves rolling his shirt up – he was on loan there.

“I thought, ‘Christ, he’ll do me. I like him’. I was Huddersfield manager at the time. I bid £750,000 for him and Chelsea accepted it. But the boy didn’t want to leave Chelsea. I was close. At the death he didn’t want to go.

“He’s everything you’d want in a central defender, he’s a born leader. On a day like today – a cold day in January – he was just like, ‘Bring it on!’ “He was fantastic. It was a lot of money. I paid £750,000 to bring Chris Lucketti from Bury, and no disrespect...! He was only a boy then.”

Lucketti has now retired, having enjoyed a career in the lower leagues, taking in spells at Bury, Rochdale, Stockport and Halifax. But to think Bruce used the £750,000 he bid for Terry to sign him underlines what has happened since. When Terry was linked with a summer move to Manchester City, a fee of in excess of £30m was mentioned.

Like Terry, who has gone on to lead his country and win the Premier League twice, Bruce’s career has progressed since the days of working for Huddersfield in the Championship.

In his latest role as Sunderland boss, Bruce has to work out a way of ending the Black Cats’ seven-match winless run in the league by defeating the Premier League leaders at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea handed Sunderland a second half masterclass at the Stadium of Light back in August, when Darren Bent’s first half opener was quickly forgotten after goals from Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Deco.

“Chelsea gave a marvellous performance at the Stadium of Light,” said Bruce. “Anyone who witnessed that will join with me in saying they were fantastic on the night.

“But we’ve played well against the big teams this season and even in that game we were 1-0 up at half-time. We’ll have to be at our best, it’s as simple as that, to make sure we get something out of it.

“If we are, and we catch Chelsea on an off-day, we know we’re capable. We’ve been to Old Trafford and played well, can we now go to Stamford Bridge and play well? I’m sure we can.”

The Sunderland squad returned from a four-day warm weather training trip to Portugal yesterday and Bruce has spent some of the time on the phone working on potential transfer deals.

He doesn’t want major changes this month, but he would like to bring in a couple of full-backs, a winger and a striker.

He accepts Chelsea’s squad are worlds apart, but insists they are a benchmark worth following.

“My aim is to have 24 players in a squad and be tightknit,”

he said. “Waghorn, Colback, Meyler, Jordan Henderson, Ryan Noble all could be part of the 24 next year. Chelsea’s 24 is just mouth-watering.

“They’ve got such strength in depth, you’ve got to have when you compete on all fronts as they do. They’ve got arguably two players for every position – and sometimes it’s a toss-up. If Essien’s not fit, they’ll probably play Michael Ballack, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard.

“They’ve got such strength in depth and that’s what makes them what they are.

They’ve been magnificent and you have to give them huge respect.

“To break in is not easy, but for the last eight, ten years now, Chelsea have been one of the big four.

“They’ve been to European Cup finals, won an FA Cup, won league titles. I said at the start of the season, anybody who finishes above them will win the league.”