John Terry signs one-year deal to stay at Chelsea FC, ends fans’ frustrations

Chelsea FC’s front office made the right choice in offering John Terry a contract extension. Terry made the right choice in accepting an imperfect deal.

After months of needless drama and toying with supporters’ emotions, Chelsea FC and John Terry finally signed a deal that will keep the 22-year Blue at Stamford Bridge through next season. The one year contract ends rumors that Terry would follow former teammates Didier Drogba and Ramires to the Chinese Super League, where teams supposedly offered Terry a two-year, £20 million contract.

The deal does not entirely end speculation about whether John Terry will retire having only ever played for Chelsea. Terry has said that he wishes to play two more years before becoming a coach. He has also repeatedly said that he wants nothing more than to retire as a Blue. Terry clearly accepted a compromise in taking a deal that keeps him at Stamford Bridge but does not see him through to the end of his anticipated playing career.

The John Terry contract saga intertwined with many of Chelsea’s other struggles and open questions this season. The club suffered from a lack of leadership throughout the season, particularly in the first half when ex-manager Jose Mourinho apparently lost his ability to motivate and focus the team through an array of distractions.

With a less experienced and strong-willed captain than John Terry, the team could easily have endured a complete breakdown on and off the pitch. The prospect of losing John Terry prompted many to wonder who among the current roster would be able to take over the captaincy of a fractured and despondent team.

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The appointment of Antonio Conte as the club’s next manager raised more questions than it answered regarding what the club’s line-up and formations will look like next year. Would a center-back who, even at his prime, is consistently vulnerable given his lack of pace fit in to Conte’s 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 formations?

With the slightly-less-slow Gary Cahill, the explosive-but-injured Kurt Zouma and any number of academy prospects capable of slotting in at center-back, Terry seemed to have little place on the pitch. A move to China or Major League Soccer seemed the best options for Terry to see regular playing time in the final years of his career.

The strongest arguments for retaining the Englishman were his off-the-pitch leadership and mentoring abilities, and what he represents as the club’s only academy product to regularly feature in the first team. Terry understands the club’s personnel, system and pipeline better than anybody because he has lived it for over 20 years.

John Terry is a talisman for the fans who have, in the past years, been forced to show quintessentially British forbearance in dealing with the transfer of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech. That is not to mention Jose Mourinho’s sacking, the mid-season flirtation with the relegation zone, the worst title defense in league history and £90 kit prices.

Showing Terry the door may have been one test of loyalty too far for the Stamford Bridge faithful. The club was wise to recognize this for economic and intangible reasons beyond the players and set-up on the pitch.

Next: Chelsea FC player evaluations 2015/16: Thibaut Courtois

Hopefully the two sides are already working on the plan for 2017-2018 so the players and the fans can be spared another round of “will he or won’t he” drama at this time next year. And now we can all return to the most important matter at hand this off-season: When will the club sign Radja Nainggolan???