John Terry will not turn his back on Chelsea, says Petr Cech

Petr Cech has said that he has looked John Terry in the eyes and believes the Chelsea captain doesn’t want to leave the club this summer.

“The most important thing is for us to know, from his commitment to training, his professionalism, his performances,” the goalkeeper said “I can see in his eyes that he’s still committed to our team, so I don’t need to ask him.”

Terry is the subject of intense interest from Manchester City who have bid close to £30 million for the 28-year-old defender who, despite Chelsea’s insistence that he is not for sale, is understood to be interested in making the move to the club that has assumed his present employer’s mantle as the Premier League’s wealthiest.

However Cech said that the fact Terry has travelled to the United States for Chelsea’s pre-season tour, which starts today (Sat) with a fixture against Seattle Sounders, shows that he remains committed to the club. “He’s here with us. That means he’s a Chelsea player and wants to be a Chelsea player,” Cech said. “He’s one of the key players for us. From his mood, nothing has changed. He’s training. He’s always with us. He’s the same captain he was three months, five months, one year ago, five years ago with us.

There’s no difference. There’s always a lot of speculation and I haven’t asked him about that. But, for me, the most important thing is that from what I see every day he’s the same captain he ever was.”

The interest in Terry is, however, not just speculation and despite Cech’s claims the silence from the captain Â who again refused to speak yesterday Â has been deafening. Chelsea remain determined to keep him and hopeful he will be persuaded to stay but there is no doubt that the episode has, to some degree, undermined the new manager Carlo Ancelotti who takes charge for the first time today in the first leg of a four-match tour which also includes games against his former club AC Milan, Inter Milan and the Mexicans of Club America.

However Ancelotti remained bullish about the prospects of keeping Terry. “There’s no news,” he said when asked about the player’s future. “For me, I am Terry’s coach. For me, now, Terry is the captain of this club. I have seen in the first 10 days that he works very well.

“He has a great mentality as a professional and it’s normal for me, for the club, for all

that he will remain the captain of this team. We hope this for next time. I sense a commitment, yes. He’s a great captain. Always, in training and in the dressing room, he is a captain. For us, he’s a very, very important player. His behaviour shows he wants to stay in Chelsea.”

Ancelotti admitted that he had not, however, held any in-depth discussions with Terry over his future even though the player has spoken to club owner Roman Abramovich. “I haven’t said anything because it’s not for me to speak to Terry for this,” Ancelotti said. “He is a great man and he will do his best. He will take the best decision.”

Ancelotti said he was not interested in discussing City’s now open pursuit of Terry which was heightened earlier this week when the club’s manager Mark Hughes suggested the defender may need a new challenge. “I’m not interested in this,” Ancelotti said. “I know very well that Terry’s the captain, a symbol of Chelsea and the club. The club don’t want to sell. Chelsea don’t have to sell a player, their great players. We are in good condition for this and Terry will remain the captain of Chelsea.”

from: telegraph.co.uk