Chelsea captain John Terry will leave the English Premier league champion at the end of the season after the club he has served since the age of 14 told him it would not be renewing his contract.
The 35-year-old central defender was informed about the decision before last week’s 1-0 league win over Arsenal.
“I was in last week before the Arsenal game and it (my contract) is not going to be extended,” he said. “It’s not going to be a fairytale ending, I’m not going to retire at Chelsea.
“Ideally I would have loved to stay, but the club’s moving in a different direction. I needed to know now, like I have done every Jan, and sometimes it takes a couple of months to get done. Unfortunately, it was a ‘no.’”
“They said that when the new manager [Guus Hiddink] comes in, things might change. It’s a ‘no’ at the minute,” Terry said. “It took me a couple of days to get over.”
Chelsea said in a statement: John was advised that while no new deal was currently on the table, that situation could change in the coming months.”
“He is a fantastic servant of Chelsea Football Club and a superb captain and, as such, the club will keep the channels of dialogue open.”