John Terry has confirmed that he is going to leave Chelsea at the end of the season. According to the Mirror, the Blues captain has confirmed that his contract will not be renewed by Chelsea, thus ending the Englishman’s 18 year spell at the club.
Ahead of Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Arsenal, Terry met with club officials who let their talismanic defender know that they would not be offering him a new contract. The defender turned 35 in December, and revealed that he will not join another English club having spent the entirety of his career at Chelsea, barring a short term loan spell at Nottingham Forrest.
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Here is Terry’s quotes in full:
To be honest, I was in last week before the Arsenal game and it’s not going to be extended. It’s my last run in the FA Cup so I want to make it a good one. It’s a big season for me and I want to push on - not just in this competition but in the Premier League as well. I knew before the Arsenal game so mentally I’ve kind of accepted it. We just have to move on.
They said that when the new manager comes in, things might change. It’s a no at the minute. I needed to know now like I have done every January and sometimes it takes a couple of months to get done.
Unfortunately it was a no. It’s not going to be a fairytale ending, I’m not going to retire at Chelsea. It’s going to be elsewhere which it took me a couple of days to get over. But like I say, I knew before the Arsenal game and my performance isn’t going to change - the way I train, what I give for the club. I want to give everything and finish on a high, on 100 per cent good terms with the club.
We spoke about my legacy and coming back to the club when I finish. The most important thing now is to get us up the league.
I didn’t feel as though I was playing great in the first four or five games of the season, like everyone in the team, and the performances showed that. But since then myself and everyone else has picked up back to where we are. All I can do is keep my head down and plug on because it’ll be my last year at the club.
The club will move on. No player is ever bigger than the club. Ideally I would have loved to stay, but the club’s moving in a different direction. No doubt they’ll sign one or two great centre-backs. I want to come back as a Chelsea supporter in years to come with my kids and see the team doing great. unfortunately that’s not going to be with me, but I want to see the team do well. It’s going to be my last year and I want to go out at the top.
No. I couldn’t do that to the Chelsea fans. I couldn’t play for another Premier League club. It will be elsewhere for sure. I don’t know where and I leave that to the people in charge. It certainly won’t be in the Premier League.
My agent made the call like we do very January. He got told ove the phone and I called to set up a meeting the following day. The club immediately set that up which was great of them to do that. I wanted to hear it face to face. They told me. Unfortunately it’s not going to be. I feel was though I’m in great nick, I’m playing great and I’ve got a couple of years to go. It’ll just be elsewhere.
It’s the end of an era at Chelsea, as John Teryy leaves the club after having become it’s most succesful player.
