Chelsea defender John Terry is a player his ex-manager Andre Villas-Boas wants to come and link up with him in China according to reports. Villas-Boas has recently replaced Sven Goran Eriksson as the new coach of Shanghai SPIG and has expressed that Terry is a player high on his list who he wishes to make a part of his squad. The interest from China is nothing new.
The 35-year-old defender signed a new one-year deal at Chelsea last summer amid much speculation about his future. At that time, he turned down a £12 million-a-year two-year offer from Eriksson and SPIG, among other offers from China and the Middle East.
The Englishman has always been one of the best performers on the pitch for the Blues during his time but since the arrival of new boss Antonio Conte, Terry has lost his place in the team. Having suffered an ankle injury in September this year, Terry returned to training in October and has since then played the full 90 minutes in only two games, against Swansea City in the Premier League and against West Ham United in the EFL Cup.
Currently, the defender has suffered an injury setback which has ruled him out for at least three weeks but the club captain has admitted that in the current form he doesn’t deserve to be included in the starting line-up.
‘Honestly, in the best possible way and I know it’s going to sound crazy to people watching, but if I don’t get back into the team it means Chelsea are winning, at the minute we’re not conceding goals and possible means we’re going to win the league. When I’m sitting there and watching I appreciate how well they’re playing and like I said, if I don’t get back in the team it’s a thing because it means we carry on winning. In the nicest way, I hope I don’t get back in the team because it means we continue to win football matches.’ Terry said in a conversation with William Gallas for SFR Sports.
After a shaky start, Antonio Conte has really transformed the Chelsea defence shifting the formation to a more Italian back three. At 35 years of age, it looks highly unlikely for the veteran defender to have a continuous run in the first team in the future especially when Chelsea do have a replacement like Kurt Zouma already in their ranks.
A move to China will be a good move thus as Chelsea are a team which can cope without John Terry and continue their pursuit of silverware under their new manager.
