Aston Villa ended their 2017/18 season last night with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Fulham in the EFL Championship playoff final. They will have to make a refurbished run for promotion next campaign and this has placed major concern over John Terry’s contract extension.
The veteran defender earlier stated that he would only accept a contract extension if it prohibited him from playing against his former team, Chelsea if Premier League promotion is earned. Now that the Villains are destined to stay in the second division for another season, a new decision will have to be made by both the player and Steve Bruce.
When asked about the situation, Bruce replied, “Is John going to stay? That’s the question for everybody. That’ll depend on John. There’ll be discussions over the next few weeks. He had an option [for a further year’s contract] if we’d gone up but we haven’t got that now. Of course, there is going to be speculation over Jack. I would like him to stay; another year with us will do him a world of good. We will see what happens.”
Terry, 37 was a massive component in Bruce’s promotion hopeful campaign. The former England international drove the team from the back with his leadership and defensive abilities. He implemented Bruce’s strong ideologies in the best way possible (which to many is at world class standards) to push them towards the 4th spot of the Championship table.
The manager or the fans would not mind a bit in keeping him at the club for another season, judging by what they saw in the last one. But one could somehow get a hint of Bruce’s disappointment when Terry released that controversial statement. When asked about his clause demand, the 57-year-old said in a melancholy fashion, “Well, we’ll not pick him against Chelsea, if that’s what he wants!”
He heaped worthy praises over the defender before passing on those sentiments. It would not come as a shock if we see Terry put on the brand new Villa jersey, come August.
The former Blues centre-back is one of the kind, as stated by Bruce himself. A 78-time England international and a vetted captain is exactly what the team needs to replicate their previous season run and achieve more.
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While Villa might have to offload a host of their existent contracts to reduce their wage bill from £33m to £15m, Terry is a player they simply cannot miss out upon.
