Chelsea captain John Terry has signed a new one-year deal at the club, four months after announcing that he would leave at the end of the season.
The 35-year-old defender put pen to paper days after the Blues offered him the chance to remain at Stamford Bridge for another season.
"I am delighted to sign a new contract with the club," said Terry. "Everyone knows I'm Chelsea through and through. I am looking forward to next season under the new manager and hopefully we can make it a successful one."
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He also paid tribute to the fans who were vocal in their demands for him to stay when it appeared that Chelsea would not renew his contract. "You're the best in the world," he said.
Terry has been with Chelsea since the age of 14 and next season will be his 22nd at Stamford Bridge. He has made 703 appearances for the club since his debut in 1998.
However, the veteran "is expected to take a large pay cut to stay on at Stamford Bridge after talks with Antonio Conte, the club's incoming manager, and the board", reports The Times.
The agreement "completes a remarkable turn of events", says the Daily Mail. "The 35-year-old had been resigned to leaving the club he joined from school and had even started to organise his farewell, hiring the pitch for a farewell game and party with family and friends."
Terry had asked his agent to prepare a list of options and there were rumours he was considering joining a club abroad, either in the US or in China, says the paper.
It has been a turbulent season for Terry as well as Chelsea. He was dropped for the first time in his career by Jose Mourinho early in the season and was unimpressed when the club refused to enter contract negotiations in the new year following Mourinho's dismissal.
Chelsea insisted they had not ruled out a new deal, but wanted the new manager, at that time unknown, to have a say. But Terry went public with his frustrations after his team-mates were offered new deals despite the uncertainty.
Will John Terry accept Chelsea's new contract?
13 May
John Terry may not be waving goodbye to Stamford Bridge on Sunday after all. Chelsea has unexpectedly offered the veteran defender a one-year extension to his current contract, which expires at the end of the season.
It was expected that Sunday's game against newly crowned champions Leicester would be his swansong, although he will be forced to sit the match out having been sent off last week. It would have been a low key end to a Chelsea career that began in 1998 and has seen the defender make more than 700 appearances for the club.
Announcing the new offer, interim manager Guus Hiddink said: "It's good to have big players in a club who are big personalities." He added that iconic figures could "have a lot of influence in the culture" of a club.
The deal would give Terry the opportunity to play on for another season and work under new boss Antonio Conte, but it is unclear whether it has come too late.
It was Terry who announced his departure in January, notes the Daily Mail. Chelsea always "insisted an offer may be forthcoming, and it arrived this week".
However, few people expected it. "Chelsea's contract offer is a major surprise after Terry, who has said he wants to play for two more years, himself claimed the club would not be offering him new terms at the end of the campaign," says the Daily Telegraph.
"The club always maintained that a decision over Terry would be left to the new head coach, which suggests Antonio Conte has told owner Roman Abramovich that he wants to keep him."
Fans, who were planning to protest over the club's treatment of Terry, will be delighted by the development. But it could have be too late, as the former England captain has been pondering his future for several months.
"Terry will consider Chelsea’s proposal against those he has received from elsewhere, including China," says The Guardian. "The Chinese Super League clubs Shanghai SIPG and Jiangsu Suning have been credited with an interest."
Chelsea appeared to admit they were unsure whether the offer would be accepted. "With it coming so late in the season, this is a big decision for John and his family and it is something that they are now considering," said a spokesperson.
