Chelsea captain John Terry has had to take a pay cut that will see him earn around £4 million lesser than what he used to, if reports in the English media are to be believed.
Terry had admitted earlier this year that this might be his last season at Chelsea. However, the club offered him a new 12 month deal on Friday, with Terry revealing that the Blues had “a different role” for him.
The 35 year old has been courting lucrative offers from China, which would have seen him earn around £20 million per year. However, the centre back, who has spent 21 years at the West London club, decided to extend his stay for a 22nd year, at much lower wages.
In fact, Terry’s wages have been slashed from £140,000 a week to £50,000 a week, according to a report in the Daily Mail. This means that his annual earnings will be slashed from around £6.7 million to around £2.4 million — an annual pay cut of over £4 million.
The club have also made it clear to Terry that he will not be a first team regular under incoming manager Antonio Conte, and have marked out performance-based incentives for the former England captain. These incentives are mainly based on the number of appearances for the club.
Terry is also preparing for life as a coach, although Chelsea have not really marked out anything in that area in his contract. The Chelsea captain is set to resume his UEFA B level coaching license next week, and expects to work with the youth teams of Chelsea’s academy.
Conte’s first job at Chelsea
Although he may no more be a first team regular for the club, John Terry will still remain the captain. However, if Conte does use the 35 year old as a squad player, he needs to sort out Chelsea’s leadership issues before addressing any other problem. He needs to figure out who will be his on-field captain at Chelsea.
While a number of their potential leaders (Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, and Petr Cech) have left the club, Chelsea still have some good options for the on-field captain role. Branislav Ivanovic is an obvious option as he is already the vice-captain of the team. His fellow defender Gary Cahill could also be a good option, as he is the vice-captain of the England national team.
Yet another option (surprising some may say), could be Cesc Fabregas. The midfielder has tasted the fruits of the leadership role very early on in his career, as he was named the club captain of Arsenal, at the tender age of 21.
