Aston Villa owner quotes Jose Mourinho while non-commenting on John Terry
By George Perry
English football’s second-best tweeting owner, Tony Xia of Aston Villa, invoked Jose Mourinho to evade a question about Villa’s pursuit of John Terry. This was the second time in a week Villa’s leadership weighed in on Chelsea’s departing centre-back.
A Birmingham-area university invited Tony Xia to weigh in – or at least take a poll – on whether Aston Villa will land John Terry. Xia not only gave the usual non-denial denial, but couched it in a quote from Jose Mourinho. Coy, to say the least.
While speaking about John Terry, Xia said he would not speak about John Terry until his contract expires on July 1. Xia’s tweet comes four days after John Terry posted about his golf outing with Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce.
Obviously, Xia could have let the Newman Sport Centre’s tweet sit quietly in his mentions. That he responded shows either that Aston Villa are interested, or at least want the world to think they may be interested.
Quoted Jose M. 'I am not going to talk about a player who still belongs to another club' as JT's contract with CFC expires until 1/7. https://t.co/Nvya3H9oI2
— Dr. Tony Xia (@Dr_TonyXia) June 21, 2017
They may hope their pursuit of Terry signals their ambition to begin the climb back into the Premier League. They may also hope their apparent close ties to Terry and confidence in persuading him will ward off other clubs seeking his signature.
Xia may also have been aiming a swipe at cross-town Championship rival Birmingham City. Last week, Birmingham manager Harry Redknapp said he “would love to have him here. I have always been a great John Terry fan.”
Birmingham finished only two points above the drop zone into League One last season. Whatever relationship Terry and Redknapp have pales beside the fact that Birmingham will more likely be fighting for survival than promotion next season.
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Aston Villa have a decent ways to go before they occupy a playoff spot. They are still much more a contender than Birmingham, though. Terry certainly wants a challenge in the closing stages of his career. A promotion push with Aston Villa would better satsify his ambition – and be a more fulfilling end to his career – than a survival scrap at Birmingham.