Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
No vacancy for Terry says Sam
SAM Allardyce has dismissed the prospect of John Terry joining Crystal Palace when he l eaves Chelsea at the end of the season.
The 36-year-old i s t o leave Stamford Bridge when his contract expires in t he summer, and he intends to play on.
Offers to remain in London may appeal to Terry should he choose against uprooting his family but, even as Palace edge closer to securing their Premier League status, their manager insists Terry has no place in his plans.
Palace have no option to retain Mamadou Sakho beyond the end of his loan spell and Damien Delaney’s contract i s also due to expire around the same time this summer.
Terry also represents the profile of signing Allardyce has often made i n his career, such as when recruiting Youri Djorkaeff and Jay Jay Okocha at Bolton and Michel Salgado at Blackburn.
However, when asked about Terry, he said: “I’ve got Scott Dann, James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho, Damien Delaney and Martin Kelly, so actually in central defence we’re l ooking pretty secure.
“I’m not sure if that’s going to be a position we’ll look at if and when we’re safe, and hopefully we are safe by t he end of t he season.
“But that position looks pretty healthy from the number of the players we have.
“I’m not so sure about John, yes, fantastic player that he is, yes he’d do us a great job, but with those amount of centre-halves at the club I can’t see that happening at the moment.”
The terms of his l oan agreement means Sakho is ineligible f or Sunday’s Premier League fixture at parent club Liverpool, but Allardyce has the fit-again James Tomkins available to deputise, as well as Loic Remy and James McArthur in contention.