Bouremouth holds the edge over West Bromwich in John Terry transfer pursuit

Asmir Begovic lent his voice to his new club’s pursuit of his former Chelsea teammate John Terry. West Bromwich Albion will give Bournemouth competition for Terry’s signature as he looks to stay in the Premier League.

Asmir Begovic and John Terry had plenty of time to talk about their futures while on Chelsea’s bench this past season. Now that Begovic is with a club where he will hopefully spend more time on the pitch than the sidelines, he welcomes the opportunity to continue playing behind Terry.

According to the Evening Standard, Bournemouth are the only club willing to meet Terry’s salary expectations of £100,000 per week. That is enough to warn off many other teams, who would want many more minutes out of a player that expensive. It is also prohibitive for Aston Villa in the Championship, who need to buy more than Terry to power their promotion hopes.

"If he fancies Bournemouth it would be great to have him there. He’s a great player and a great guy as well, so from that point of view it would be really, really good. He’s obviously the best defender ever in the Premier League. – Asmir Begovic, Evening Standard"

Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion are re-upping their interest in the 36-year old ex-Blue (we don’t like saying it any more than you like reading it). In March, Tony Pulis confirmed that West Brom considered a January move for Terry. They did not take action, but left open the possibility of a summer approach.

"There was no approach made, it was just finding out what the situation was, and the situation was that John wanted to stay at Chelsea… If he becomes available in the summer we’ll sit down then and have a little think about what we’ve got and what we haven’t got and then we’ll take it from there. – SkySports"

Based on playing style, West Brom could be a better destination for Terry. Tony Pulis does not expect much movement or offence out of his defenders. Pulis’ standard minimum of six men behind the ball and close-paired centre-backs in a tight block would be not expose any of Terry’s vulnerabilities in pace or mobility. Terry could play as the classic, physical centre-back that he has been his entire career.

Must Read: Building the Antonio Conte empire, part 3 of 3: Be like Ferguson, not Wenger

With Bournemouth, Terry could risk being caught out as the Cherries pour forward, always in pursuit of a goal. He would be reluctant to move up and join the play, knowing how exposed that would leave his goal-keeper. At best, he might be the last man back minding the store during an opposition counter-attack.

Bournemouth are a more ambitious team than West Bromwich Albion. They have progressed consistently since coming into the Premier League, and are set for a lengthy stay in the top flight. The Cherries’ mentality and approach would fit Terry better, even if West Brom’s tactics may play more to his strengths.

Next: Tomas Kalas' quest for Premier League football may continue at Hull City

At the end of the day, any transfer that keeps John Terry in the Premier League will satisfy most Chelsea fans. Just as long as he does not imitate Frank Lampard in his first game against his former team (again, it hurts us as much as it hurts you to bring that up).