Terry signs for Aston Villa
LONDON: John Terry has signed for Aston Villa to continue his playing career beyond the age of 37 in the Championship.
Villa owner and chairman Dr Tony Xia confirmed the Chelsea legend’s arrival yesterday, tweeting: “Welcome JT to Birmingham city... Aston Villa! #UTV! @AVFCOfficial Announcement shortly!”
Local rivals Birmingham City had also been chasing Terry before Steve Bruce convinced the 36-year-old to head for Villa Park — with Xia clearly poking fun at Villa’s neighbours in his tweet.
Terry had been in search of a new challenge since agreeing with Chelsea that his 22 years at the club had come to a natural end late last season.
The former England captain played a reduced role under new manager Antonio Conte, starting just six matches of Chelsea’s charge to the Premier League title.
While considering his options, Terry has been training back at Chelsea’s Cobham base and on his regular trips to Portugal during the summer.
Villa manager Steve Bruce confessed his interest in Terry at the end of last season and the pair met up to play golf while on holiday this summer.
He has agreed a one-year contract, understood to be worth around £80,000 (RM446,000) per week — if he hits bonus targets.
Swansea City manager Paul Clement has revealed how Terry chose to drop down to the Championship because he couldn’t face playing against Chelsea in the Premier League.
The former Chelsea captain was in-demand, with Swansea and Bournemouth among the top-flight clubs to have courted his services this summer, but chose to move down a division.
“My understanding of the situation is that, with John and his relationship with Chelsea, he was going to find it difficult to be a direct competitor of them in the Premier League,” Clement said.
“John is someone I know very well and have a lot respect for and have a good relationship with. Having known him since he was 16 years old and worked with him as well in the later years when I was an assistant at Chelsea, I understand very well his situation. Daily Mail