Terry set to stay at Chelsea

This mornings papers all appear to be following the same lead; that John Terry is set to 'reject' a move to us in favour of remaining at Chelsea. From Dominic Fifield in The Guardian (who is in the US covering the side):

John Terry has reached an agreement in principle to remain at Chelsea despite persistent interest from Manchester City, with the England captain expected to reaffirm his commitment to the club publicly before the weekend.

Terry maintained his silence on City's interest in the wake of today's comfortable 2–0 victory over Jose Mourinho's Internazionale at the Rose Bowl, in which he was one of two players to feature for the full 90 minutes. But he departed the stadium saying he would speak "very soon" on the matter. Both Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's chief executive, and Roman Abramovich, the club's owner, are in the United States as the club's four-match tour progresses, with Terry having spoken to both over the last few days.

I did have a suspicion that Chelsea's continued public insistence that Terry was 'going nowhere' was an indication that they were concerned that the players was giving some serious thought to the possibility of moving. It does however seem all but certain Terry will remain.

As to whether Terry gave serious consideration to the possibility of opening talks is anybodys guess, and should he sign a new (and improved) deal at Chelsea, I don't think he is likely to admit as such anyway.

Whilst Terry would unquestionably have been a huge addition to the club, and perhaps the high profile, 'name' signing we have been looking for, by and large the feeling was largely ambivalent to his potential arrival. The sums of money were reportedly vast, and here was a guy who seemed the epitomy of the modern Chelsea, to the extent that to even consider him playing elsewhere was largely unthinkable.

I would expect us now to step up the pursuit of Joleon Lescott, as it is clear that we do need to reinforce the central part of the defence. It has been interesting to note however the performances of Ben Mee on the tour to South Africa have been extremely encouraging.