Samuel Eto'o
Eto'o is pleased his previously sour relationship with Mourinho is now a healthy one. (Reuters)

Samuel Eto'o has admitted his relationship with Jose Mourinho used to be less than amicable, but insists he is delighted to have been reunited with his former manager at Chelsea.

The Cameroonian striker has crossed paths with the Portuguese manager on a number of occasions before moving to Stamford Bridge from Anzhi this summer, sharing memorable moments such as winning the Champions League together at Inter Milan in 2010.

But the pair have also been on opposing ends of tense encounters, notably while Eto'o led the Barcelona line against Mourinho's Chelsea in 2005 during which the striker declared, "I'd rather sell groundnuts in my village than to play for a pathetic team like Chelsea."

But the 32-year-old has moved quickly to dismiss suggestions there is still tension between himself and the Blues boss, also insisting his comments eight years ago were not a slight on Chelsea football club.

"I was talking about Jose, not about Chelsea," Eto'o told The Sun.

"Before meeting at Inter we didn't know each other personally, so our relationship was tense. I even said one time that I'd never play for a club where Jose was coach.

"But God knows best. He wanted to show me that I was wrong and today Jose is a friend. Now he's my coach again.

"It's a real pleasure to team up with him once more and join a great team. Jose has a real clear idea. He talks straight and it's really important in this business. He's sincere and straight forward.

"When it comes to Jose, I can't pick out only one quality because he's as good on the pitch as off it and this is rare for a manager. He's one of the best. He's got in touch. I realise there was an opportunity at Chelsea, and things moved very fast."

The former Anzhi Makhachkala striker, who struck 108 goals in 145 appearances for Barcelona, could be in line to make his Chelsea debut on Saturday evening against Everton.