Captain Terry will stay at Chelsea, says boss Ancelotti
CHELSEA boss Carlo Ancelotti has ruled out the possibility of John Terry leaving Stamford Bridge to join Manchester City and expects the on-going transfer saga to come to an end within the next week.
The England captain is the No1 target of big-spending City, who want Terry to beef up their defence after investing heavily in a star-studded forward line.
City have already had two offers in excess of £30m turned down by Chelsea, and are set to chance their arm with a £40m bid as speculation over Terry’s future refuses to subside.
Terry has refused to break his silence over the issue, prompting Blues owner Roman Abramovich to fly out to the team’s pre-season camp in the United States this week in a bid to persuade his captain to stay.
But Ancelotti believes it is a case of when, not if, the situation is resolved, and yesterday praised Terry for the way he has handled the speculation.
“For John it is not a distraction this question because he works very well, he is very concentrated, he is focused on himself, but I think in one week nobody will have a problem about John Terry,” the Italian said before Chelsea meet former boss Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan side in the World Club Challenge this morning.
“John wants to stay in Chelsea and Chelsea want John Terry to be captain for more years.”
Asked if he thought the situation would be resolved within a week, Ancelotti replied: “Yeah I think so.”
Ancelotti also played down reports that Chelsea are angry over City’s pursuit of their skipper, rejecting talk that the Blues are ready to report their rivals for an illegal approach.
“No, there is no problem,” he added. “If Manchester City want to improve and buy the best players it is normal because he is a great player and all teams want to buy a great player. These are normal questions but he stays in the same team because he is a captain for Chelsea, it is impossible to sell John Terry.”
At the same time, Ancelotti has been hit by the news that midfielder Michael Ballack could miss the start of the Premier League season after the German was forced to leave the US training camp with a toe injury.
The Blues, however, were cheered up with the news that French winger Florent Malouda has signed a new three-year deal.
“I am really happy because it shows a mutual trust between the club and myself and for me it is just the beginning of the story,” he said.