Chelsea assistant manager Steve Holland on Friday confirmed that he expected to see club captain John Terry sign a new deal with the Blues.
The centre back’s future has been a source of speculation with the club more than often being prepared to see their 30+ year old players leave the club for nothing.
However, after a dominant season alongside Gary Cahill in the back line for Chelsea, John Terry appears to have done enough to extend his stay at the club beyond this summer.
Terry’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, but during Friday’s pre-match press conference, Steve Holland gave the latest on the centre back’s future:
“John has had an outstanding season. I know that John wants to stay at Chelsea… so hopefully that situation can be concluded over the next few weeks.”
Holland also said Chelsea want Terry to stay at the club, and that the situation was the same with Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, and those players will be treated with “full respect”.
John Terry has contributed towards the best defensive record in the Premier League which has left Chelsea in a position where winning two competitions in fully in their own hands.
In a press conference full of talking points, Holland gave the latest on the injury of Eden Hazard, who hurt his groin in the win against PSG:
“Hazard is not definitely out for Tuesday but he hasn’t trained with the squad yet which means he’s a major doubt.”
‘Tuesday’ refers to the first leg of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final clash against Athletico Madrid, a game in which double Player of the Year nominated Eden Hazard would be a great miss.
Of course, this confirms that Hazard is unavailiable for Saturday evening’s game vs Sunderland.
Finally, Holland pointed towards rested players in such a testing time for the squad, saying that Chelsea would have to find “the right balance” in such a busy period of the season.
However, Mourinho is known for picking his teams based on the upcoming game only, and this was also hinted at for Saturday’s game by Steve Holland.
Holland says the full focus is on Sunderland tomorrow and putting out a team that will win the game. #CFC
— Chelsea FC (@chelseafc) April 18, 2014
Chelsea can win the Premier League by winning their remaining four games, including the crunch tie against Liverpool, and will need to begin the sprint finish positively against Sunderland.
