John Terry’s future will be keenly debated in the coming weeks after the Chelsea captain confirmed he will depart his boyhood club at the end of the season.
Terry, 36, will leave Chelsea this summer after a 22-year spell at the club, with the defender revealing on Monday he hasn’t yet decided on his future plans.
However, he did admit he feels he still has “plenty to offer on the pitch” which suggests that Terry wants to continue his playing career elsewhere.
The question is, however, where that will be. The 36-year-old has previously insisted he would not follow Frank Lampard by moving to another Premier League club, which would mean Terry being forced to go abroad to prolong his time on the pitch.
Chelsea legend Lampard, who spent one year with Manchester City after initially leaving the Blues, turned out for MLS outfit New York City before retiring.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard also left these shores for the US, with the midfielder choosing to sign for LA Galaxy in 2015 before he also announced his retirement from the game recently.
Gerrard has since returned to Liverpool to take up a coaching role within the club’s academy but it seems plausible that, like Lampard and Gerrard, Terry could choose to move to America.
If the defender doesn’t stay in England or go to the US, the other likely option would be for him to go to China, where his former Chelsea teammates Oscar, Mikel John Obi and Ramires have moved to in the past season.
However, another option for Terry could be to move into coaching sooner rather than later.
The 36-year-old has been taking his coaching badges this season and learning Portuguese, which has suggested he could be willing to gain experience on the continent.
“There will be opportunities for me to speak further about this [my future] over the coming weeks,” Terry said on Monday.
‘I will decide on my future in due course, but for now I am committed to helping the team achieve success this season.”
While it remains unclear what Terry’s plans are for next season, what is clear is that Chelsea will definitely lose their long-serving captain at the end of the season after 22 successful years at the club.