Chelsea’s Terry holds crisis talks with Abramovich

LONDON - Chelsea FC captain John Terry held two hours of crisis talks with club owner Roman Abramovich on Saturday and demanded that he be given a chance to speak to Manchester City, who have shown an interest in him.

According to News of The World, Terry stopped short of handing in an official transfer request, but is determined to speak with City officials over the proposed move.

The move comes 48 hours before Carlos Tevez flies in to Eastlands for a medical to seal his 25-million-pound switch.

Abramovich is desperate to keep Terry but the England captain wants his future resolved before Chelsea leave for their pre-season tour of America on Thursday.

The pair met after Terry and the rest of the first- team squad took part in an event to support Chelsea’s charity partner for the season, Right to Play.

After spending the afternoon at Wentworth, Terry slipped away to talk with the Russian billionaire in a meeting that lasted more than two hours.

Chelsea is reluctant to let Terry leave for City, even for an astonishing 50 million pounds. But the defender is determined to hear what they have to offer.

City chief Mark Hughes is prepared to fly back from the club’s pre-season training camp in Germany to convince the England captain his future is at Eastlands.

Terry, 28, will be offered 280,000-pounds a week plus a five million pound signing-on fee if Chelsea give them permission to talk.

There are already plans at City of setting up a John Terry Foundation, similar to the project proposed by the club during their pursuit of Kaka in January.

City’s new partnership with Umbro, who also hold a lucrative contract with Terry, is seen as crucial to the deal.

Although the defender has told friends it would be a huge wrench to leave Chelsea, he fears they have regressed after the big-spending era under Jose Mourinho.

He is also aware of talk at Stamford Bridge about the proposed transfer fee from City being used to complete the signing of Alexandre Pato from AC Milan for a similar fee.

Terry has become increasingly disillusioned at Blues and is concerned that they will not be able to challenge Manchester United’s domestic dominance next season. (ANI)