Terry will be able to miss games against Chelsea if Villa gain promotion
Aston Villa are confident John Terry will sign a new contract with the Midlands club if they win promotion to the Premier League. Villa are willing to reach an agreement in his new contract where the 37-year-old would be allowed to miss both games against Chelsea.
Terry signed a deal with Villa last summer after turning down offers from Premier League sides because he did not want to face his old club Chelsea, where he made 717 appearances over a 22-year period. In the deal that Terry signed last summer there is a clause that entitles him to a new 12-month contract if Villa are promoted. This Saturday they take on Fulham in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Villa are very confident that Terry, who has started 32 league games this season, will want to stay if the club get promotion to the Premier League. It was reported that Steve Bruce is prepared to remove any possibility of Terry facing his old club by writing it in his contract that he does not have to play in them games. Bruce was asked if it was a done deal that Terry would stay if they beat Fulham, Bruce said:
Well, we’ll not pick him against Chelsea if that’s what he wants. I really genuinely hope he triggers it. All those phone calls to him, he hasn’t been disappointed with it. You can’t be disappointed when you walk through here.”
Bruce has said that Terry has been a huge influence at Villa this season, on and off the pitch:
“I just knew what he would give. Let’s be fair, he has been one of the great defenders of our country. He is a great leader of men, which we don’t produce many of any more, and in a quiet way; he is not a ranter and a raver, he is not one who puts heads through doors. He is calm. People like Jack Grealish have looked up to him and thought: ‘Is that the way I’ve got to be to be a top player?’”
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic has said he intends to pressure the two Villa centre-backs John Terry and James Chester, as he expects the pair to make mistakes.
Experience in life is important but it’s not everything,” Fulham’s manager said. “When you talk about experience you are talking about the past. John Terry is a fantastic player, so is James Chester. They have experience playing in this stadium. But probably they cannot be in their best level right now.
“We are the youngest team, the team with more energy. We believe in our style. We believe we can dominate the situation. We are going to try to put against Terry some fast and some stronger players. I expect he can make some difference in our favour. He plays in a complicated position. All of us can make mistakes and I expect some mistakes from his side.”
Jokanovic was also responding to questions from the press linking him to the Chelsea job after there were rumours of interest from Fulham’s neighbours in west London, he said:
“I have a contract and that’s it. I am not thinking about the future. This game is so huge I don’t know what I am going to do on Sunday morning.”