John Terry is in the thick of conversations for Chelsea’s greatest ever player after a long and successful career at Stamford Bridge, but he did once admit that he was “flattered” by transfer interest from a Premier League rival.
In terms of true Chelsea legends, there are not many better than John Terry.
The central defender, who retired back in 2018, spent nearly his entire club career in Chelsea colours. The fact that he was a graduate from the Blues academy made his success even sweeter, too.
Apart from a brief loan with Nottingham Forest in his early days, along with a spell at Aston Villa at the end of his career, Terry put his body on the line during 717 Chelsea appearances. In the end, he won 15 major trophies as a Blues player.
Without a doubt, the Englishman is the greatest captain in the club’s history because of his leadership and determination on the football pitch.
Terry thinks one Chelsea record in the Premier League may never be beaten, the incredible defensive record when they only conceded 15 times in a 38-game season back in the 2004/05 campaign.
Chelsea great John Terry was flattered by transfer interest
Even though Terry was consistently one of the world’s elite centre-backs for over a decade, he stayed loyal to Chelsea. It must’ve helped that the Blues were consistently winning the biggest trophies, too.
Back when he was 28, Terry did actually receive transfer interest from Premier League rivals Manchester City, who were soon to embark on their own era of dominance.
The Chelsea great admitted at the time he was “flattered” by Man City’s interest, but he was convinced to stay after an “unbelievable” conversation with then-owner Roman Abramovich.
Speaking back in July 2009, Terry said via The Guardian: “I was very flattered by the fact that [Manchester] City wanted to sign me.
“It’s the first time in my career someone has come in with an official bid for me. But, as a player, when you get a phone call from your own club saying that, no matter what money, they won’t sell you … it’s unbelievable to just sit down there and listen to it from the owner. That’s the kind of relationship you can’t buy. You can’t put a price on things like that when he’s saying: ‘Listen, you’re the heartbeat of the team. You’ve been here for many years and we want you to stay.’ That’s all that matters.”
It’s going to be hard for any centre-back to match the Premier League legacy that Terry has left behind, winning the division title five times.
Chelsea legend John Terry thinks he’s better than Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, which is an opinion we very much share. In fact, he’s at the very top of the tree in Premier League history.
The role of Roman Abramovich
As mentioned by Terry above, Abramovich was a deciding factor in one of Chelsea’s greats committing their career to the club.
When Abramovich felt the need, he’d step in with big decisions and moments. His hiring and firing policy with managers didn’t always go down well with the wider media, but nobody can argue with the club’s incredible success during his reign.
It’s now been more than two and a half years since the change of ownership. As time goes by, it becomes more and more apparent that the winning ship that Abramovich once steered has completely changed.
Terry described Abramovich as the world’s best owner after his time at Chelsea.
