Why Chelsea Should Sell John Terry

Kiss The Blues Goodbye

John Terry should be a very be a very grateful man. At 28, he is paid £135,000 a week to play for the club he loves. A club that have been in the top five in Europe for the last ten years. A club that have looked after him since he was fourteen, and who sent him to the best surgeons in the world when needed. A club, indeed, who helped get him out of several  'unfortunate incidents' in the past and who are largely responsible for his fantastic wealth. Yes, he should be grateful. An ideal working relationship and one that could, quite easily, see Terry ending his career at Stamford Bridge.

That's not how football works now though, is it? Terry sits in his Bentley, scratches his balls and mulls over the fact that Wayne Bridge is on £15,000 a week more at Manchester City than Terry earns at Chelsea. His brain calculates the potential £5 million signing-on fee he would get if he did move to Man City for £40-odd million, and he toys with the idea that City might, just might, be European contenders. He sows the seeds of a story by letting it be known he is 'intrigued' by Manchester City's interest in him.

Chelsea are horrified. "John Terry is a symbol of this team," Carlo Ancelotti screams. "He will be captain next season. He said he wants to stay forever and we want to keep him forever. Now there is a question of Manchester City, but for Terry there is no price. Terry will be at Chelsea forever." But will he? Really? And more to the point, should Chelsea cash in on Terry now, while they can?

Let's look at the facts. Terry is, indeed, a symbol of his team. A fighter. The kind of player you need to drive your team to the very top. He's a winner. But the facts don't actually support the view that Chelsea need Terry. In cold stats, Chelsea win more games (68%) when Terry is not playing, than when he is (64%). Not much in it, but still instructive. Yes, you shout, but you need players of Terry's calibre for the Big Games. Terry is a Big Game performer. Well, no he isn't. Not really. We all remember the missed penalty that cost Chelsea the Champion's League against Manchester United. But it runs deeper than this. In the big Premier League games last season against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, Chelsea won just once. And Terry was in the side for all of the games.

Then there is Terry's fitness. How many years does he have left? Terry's style of play includes a gung-ho bravery that is laudable. But it has left him crocked on numerous occasions. He's damaged his ankle, his foot, his knee, his shoulder and his cheekbone. His back has to be treated after every game. His pace is going with each season. Last year he managed 48 games, but it'll be unlikely he'll see out many more than this in the years to come.

John Terry will decide whether or not he leaves Chelsea. Money will be the big motivator, but perhaps not the biggest. The biggest motivator will be the Champion's League, and whether or not he thinks Manchester City will seriously be able to compete with the big boys in the next two or three years.


John Terry's Rap Sheet

It's largely forgotten now, but back in 2002 there were serious doubts about Terry playing for England, let alone being Captain. He was violent, he lied to his missus and he seemed hell-bent in putting himself across as a simple-minded arrogant twat. Despite this inauspicious start, Terry pulled himself together and put much of the idiocy far, far behind him. For that - hat's off.

* In the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, he and Chelsea team-mates Frank Lampard, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jody Morris were accused of drunkenly mocking American tourists at the Post House Hotel, Heathrow, stripping naked, laughing and vomiting. "They were out of control," one witness stated. "More like a pack of hooligans than professional footballers."

* In January 2002 Terry, Wimbledon defender Desmond Byrne and Chelsea's Jody Morris were all charged with Actual Bodily Harm and Affray. The three had been out celebrating the birth of Morris' child when a brawl at the Wellington Nightclub in London left bouncer Trevor Thirlwell with cuts requiring stitches. Terry later had his charged upgraded to the more severe Grievous Bodily Harm and having a wine bottle as an offensive weapon. Eight months later Terry was acquitted after he broke down in tears in court.

* Despite being a key figure in publicising the Premier League's 'Respect' campaign aimed towards increasing the respect shown to referees by footballers on the field, John Terry has emerged as one of the key violators of it. Chelsea have been fined for failing to control their players a number of times in the past few seasons, and Chelsea's display of dissent against referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after their Champion's League exit to Barcelona did little to improve their public image.

* The Chelsea ace has been caught stepping out on his wife Toni Poole by the tabloid press a number of times (well, nine) despite being quoted saying, "I've never cheated on Toni and I never would." He was later quoted saying "I really regret what I've done to Toni. I've misbehaved and slept with girls behind her back and that's not right. She knows about it all now and we're moving on. I'm not going to cheat on her ever again."

* Terry most recently 'romped' with 17-year-old Jenny Barker in the back of his Bentley just hours after giving the teenager his autograph. "He smiled and put on sexy Luther Vandross music," Barker recalls. "Then he put my hand on his crotch. We were kissing and cuddling and he put my hand down his tracksuit bottoms and under his boxer shorts. One thing led to another but we did not have sex. I didn't want to give in to him like I can imagine every other girl does."