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LONDON.— Chelsea have offered club captain John Terry a one-year contract extension. Terry’s deal is up in the summer, and the club’s most decorated captain revealed at the start of February there was no new offer on the table.
A Chelsea statement at the time said “the channels of dialogue” would be kept open, and the former England skipper is now considering the offer of a 12-month extension.
A Chelsea spokesperson said: “(Director) Marina Granovskaia and (chairman) Bruce Buck met with John and his agent this week and offered him a one-year contract extension.
“With it coming so late in the season, this is a big decision for John and his family and it is something that they are now considering.”
A spokesman for the player has confirmed that chairman Bruce Buck met with the former England skipper and his agent earlier this week to put a new contract on the table.
“I can say, on behalf of the club, that Bruce Buck met with John and his agent this week, and offered him a one year contract extension,” he said.
“Coming this late in the season, it’s a big decision for John – he’s now considering it.
“No more comment.”
Terry (35) has made 703 appearances since his Chelsea debut in October 1998 and has always made it clear his priority is to remain at Stamford Bridge before the summer.
The club’s supporters have waged an increasingly vocal campaign for a new deal, while team-mate Gary Cahill told Sky Sports this week it would be “a blow” to lose his long-time defensive partner.
And it is now down to Terry to decide whether or not he has played his last game for the club he joined as a schoolboy and skippered to four Premier League titles and a Champions League.
The centre-half is banned for the final game of this season – against champions Leicester – after he was sent off for a second time this season against Sunderland.
Chelsea were set to pay tribute to Terry at last night’s end-of-season awards ceremony. There had been rumours earlier this week that the tribute has been cancelled, which in turn sparked rumours he would be offered a new deal.
The club insists the tribute was purely to mark his 700th appearance for the club.
Terry has played more than 700 times for Chelsea since making his debut in the 1998-99 season.
The only other six games of his career came during a loan spell with Nottingham Forest during the following campaign.
He has won four Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, a Europa League and a Champions League crown during his trophy-laden stint at Stamford Bridge.
Online Reporter