Harry Redknapp: Arsenal should move for John Terry if Chelsea go through with ‘mad’ decision

Madness: Chelsea should offer captain a new deal
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Harry Redknapp4 February 2016

Chelsea would be mad to let John Terry leave and they would only have themselves to blame if he ends up at another Premier League club.

John has said he couldn’t play against Chelsea, after more than 15 years of service at the club he loves, but I remember Frank Lampard saying something similar and he ended up at Manchester City.

I thought John would get another year. Chelsea obviously haven’t had anything like the season they would have wanted at the start but John is still the main man there as far as the defenders go. John played every game last season and was fantastic in their march to the title. Of course, he has suffered a dip — just like most of the players there have — but his hasn’t been the worst and he has shown enough to think he is still capable of another season at the highest level.

I can’t believe they would let him go. He is the type of player you keep around your club. Everyone knows he is a leader and you find it very difficult to replace that presence in the dressing room. If I had been at Manchester City or Arsenal, I would have gone in on deadline day to see whether he wanted to move. John could tip the balance in the Premier League title race for one of those sides.

Similarly, in the summer, City, Arsenal or Manchester United might look at Terry and see the benefit of signing him for a year. Arsenal took Petr Cech, which many people thought inconceivable at this time last year, so why not John as well? He’d walk into Arsenal’s team even now —they need his character.

I’m sure he would rather go and play abroad but Frank felt like that and ended up coming back. It depends on how John feels he has been treated. Frank found it difficult initially but this is professional sport at the end of the day: managers change, players change clubs all the time and wherever you are, you do your best. We’d all love to stay at one club all our lives but it doesn’t work out that way.

People don’t realise the value of a player such as John, even aged 35. Tony Adams at Arsenal was the same. Those two are the best captains since Bobby Moore. They put their bodies on the line every week, they organise people and run the team for you. They make your job as a manager easier.

Fans want players to stay on at the club once they reach John’s age but I’m not sure whether he would want to go into coaching now. These boys are being offered huge money by emerging leagues in China and America. If someone said to you, would you want to coach Chelsea’s Under-19s for £60,000 a year or play in America for £150,000 a week?, what would you do? It’s a no-brainer.

Common sense may prevail here. Perhaps he has been offered a lot of money elsewhere, whether that’s in China, America or the Middle East, and with no contract on the table from Chelsea, he decided to go public. Maybe he’s thinking he doesn’t want to wait until the end of the season or maybe there is a bit of posturing there. He has put pressure on Chelsea to sort it out. They sang his name at Watford last night and they’ll do more of the same when Manchester United come to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The fans have lost a manager they love, now they are losing a captain they love. The club will hear that — after all, Roman Abramovich makes all the big decisions there and he could easily change his mind.

I still think there is a twist in the tale. They’ll surely look at the situation again. Chelsea could easily come back and extend his contract. But if they don’t, it could come back to haunt them sooner than they think.

What do you think? Should Arsenal go for Terry? We'll be conducting a live Q&A with Standard Sport columnist Tony Evans on today at 12pm. Pose your questions in the comment box below!

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VADY WON'T START AT THE EUROS

Roy Hodgson was in the stands to watch Jamie Vardy’s latest goalscoring heroics but I still don’t think he’ll start for England at Euro 2016.

He must have booked his place in the squad by now and I’d play him but I doubt Roy will. Where’s he going to play Wayne Rooney? That’s the problem because Wayne will definitely play.

John Terry's career in pictures

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If Rooney plays through the middle, then you can’t really shove Vardy out on the left — as Roy did against Lithuania for example — but if he plays him in the No10 position, then it seems as though Harry Kane and even Daniel Sturridge are the preferred options.

Dele Alli has been a revelation this season and must have a shout of playing in a No10 role, which would mean pushing Rooney further forward. The only thing Vardy can do is keep scoring goals. If he finishes as the Premier League’s top scorer, Roy may have to change his mind.

PLAYERS WON’T LET DOWN PELLEGRINI

Manuel Pellegrini may be a dead man walking at Manchester City but it won’t affect his relationship with the players at all.

From what I hear, they all like him and, in any case, they will want to win the title regardless of who the manager is. They will also know Pep Guardiola will have one eye on City’s matches from now on and they’ll want to impress him because you can bet he’ll be given a huge sum of money to overhaul the squad in the summer.

They have to keep playing well to be part of Guardiola’s plans next year and that will play into Pellegrini’s hands. Pellegrini will be very well looked after by City. He has worked in countries where it is almost standard practice to win the league and then lose your job. That’s how it often is overseas.

He has taken the whole situation with good grace and other clubs will notice that. It will be business as usual, he’ll walk into another top job and get another massive pay day.

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