PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS:JOHN TERRY arrives back for his first day of pre-season training today with the Chelsea captain's future still unresolved until he makes a public statement regarding Manchester City's interest following the club's second formal bid, of €34.7 million, last week.
Chelsea have made their public stance clear through a statement rejecting the bid, a position that was further emphasised by Carlo Ancelotti, the new head coach, and the chief executive, Peter Kenyon, both confirming that the 28-year-old was not for sale.
It is understood that Roman Abramovich does not wish to sell the England captain, and the club insist Terry has told them he intends to remain at Stamford Bridge.
City, for their part, are thought to be refusing to make a third official offer for the player until he speaks publicly. The club are aware if Terry goes on the record to confirm his desire to continue at Chelsea that may well, for the time being at least, be the end of the matter.
However, until he does so there is a view at Eastlands that his ongoing silence may well be an encouraging sign, and that he is seriously considering what would be his final opportunity to make a big move during his peak years.
City are also conscious that, given Chelsea’s reluctance, Terry would have to make a formal transfer request to leave the club. If he was to do so then it is thought that there is scope for an improved bid from City for the player as the manager, Mark Hughes, views Terry’s ability and leadership qualities as essential to what is seen in Manchester as a pivotal season in the club’s development now that the billionaire Sheikh Mansour has owned City for close to a year.
Meanwhile, Ross Turnbull believes he will continue to develop and improve as a player despite swapping potential first-team football at Middlesbrough for life as Chelsea’s back-up goalkeeper behind Petr Cech after completing his free transfer from Teesside to west London.
The 24-year-old admitted yesterday he thought initial word of Chelsea’s interest was “a wind-up”, only to learn that the FA Cup holders had been impressed with his performance in a 5-0 drubbing at the Riverside early last season and during the warm-up of the return fixture at Stamford Bridge in January. The Chelsea goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, was paying particular attention ahead of the home side’s 2-0 victory that day, and Turnbull has now been recruited under the Bosman ruling.
“It’s just a privilege to be here and be a part of this, one of the best clubs in the world,” said Turnbull. “When my agent called I did say to him: ‘Are you sure this isn’t a wind-up?’ Speaking to Chelsea [in the negotiations], I was impressed at how much they actually knew about my career so far.
“Christophe had a say in it. He videoed the warm-up last season when we came down to Stamford Bridge and obviously looked at my technique then. It’s great to think that someone would do that, but he was obviously impressed with what he saw. For that, I’m grateful.”
Turnbull began last season as Boro’s first-choice goalkeeper only to lose his place to Brad Jones after the defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s chairman Bruce Buck remains confident the club will land one of their two big transfer targets this summer.
They are still interested in Alexandre Pato, David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, while they have not given up hope of buying Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich.
Ribery insists he wants to join Real Madrid but the Spanish club’s general director, Jorge Valdano, claims they are not prepared to meet Bayern’s €71 million asking price and have pulled out of the race to sign him.
Guardian Service
