Terry not for sale, will join Chelsea tour at Seattle

LONDON - Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon made it loud and clear to Manchester City that John Terry is not for sale and the England captain will fly to Seattle to join the London club’s pre-season tour.

At the club’s announcement of its sponsorship renewal deal with Samsung, where Terry was also present, Kenyon said reiterating that the Londoners would not countenance selling their talismanic captain.

“I don’t know what they (City) are offering but I’m confident John is going to remain with us. John is a talisman, he’s the heart of Chelsea, he came through our academy, he’s our captain and he’s also become captain of England while he’s been with us,” Kenyon was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

“We’re very confident John will be remaining here as captain of Chelsea. We’re not going to sell John so from that point of view it’s really irrelevant what another club will offer. He’s too important to us. We’re very confident he will be leading us forward in the years to come,” he added.

City have had two bids rejected for the 28-year-old over the past six months and are expected to lodge an improved third offer.

Terry’s team-mates expect him to remain at the club despite City’s willingness to double his 135,000 pounds-a-week salary with a five-year contract.

“He’s a big part of Chelsea and he’s played here for a long time. It’s football, anything can happen, but at the moment everyone is hopeful that he will stay. I don’t want to talk too much about our conversation, but I think he will be playing for Chelsea (next season). Everything else is speculation,” said Michael Ballack.