John Terry was finally offered a one-year contract extension by Chelsea recently and that puts to bed any sort of negative feelings one should have against the London club for not dealing with this issue earlier or does it?
Terry revealed on his Instagram post that he is going to think about his decision to sign the contract or not as it has a few different terms in it. We can only speculate what those terms could be but if there is any doubt in the mind of Terry, he should not sign the contract extension and he should go out on his own terms.
The contract could mean that Terry gets limited playing time or it also could mean that Terry has to join the backroom staff at some point of time next season, neither of which could be acceptable to the English center-back as he still believes he can do a lot for a team.
Terry has been one of the better defenders for Chelsea this season and what a wretched campaign it has been for last year’s Premier League champions. Terry though couldn’t have done more, he has been a rock in defence and has been strong whenever he has played for his side but that might not be enough for some people.
Antonio Conte would be bringing in a sea of change at the club and there could be many in the hierarchy who are hoping for a new start at the club. In fact, there are very few players who remain from those glory days, which included Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and now John Terry.
Maybe this was a sign from the board that they still are willing to give Terry a bit of playing time, but he should let go of his desire to finish his career when he wishes and move on when he can. Steven Gerrard was another victim of all this and he hasn’t really done all that well since going to the MLS, despite a great start to his career at the LA Galaxy.
Xavi was another star who could not retire at Barcelona despite giving the club everything he had. Terry seems to be another one of those players who wouldn’t be allowed to play out his final minutes of his career in front of the faithful at Stamford Bridge.
The 35-year-old has, at least rumored to have a lot of offers on the table from the Far East and even the Middle East but it could be America, which suits him the most, especially with the likes of Gerrard and Lampard already plying their trade there.
Terry should not sign a contract just for the sake of it, he has been given the option pretty late, just like what was done with Steven Gerrard and with good reason at least from the Chelsea side. It is time to wave goodbye to Stamford Bridge for their Captain, leader and legend as an era of multiple titles comes to an end in London.