JOHN TERRY demand chance to speak to City

• zocoss

  11 Jul 09, 09:30

  Manchester City raise stakes in pursuit of John Terry

  Manchester City are to lodge a bid of £32 million for John Terry as they continue their pursuit of the Chelsea captain.

   

  Is it only a 'matter of time' before Terry is unveiled as the shock transfer upset of the summer?

   

  The new offer will be submitted once City chief executive Garry Cook returns from Brazil, where he is attending Robinho's wedding.

  City will step up their transfer activity next week before they head off on their pre-season tour to South Africa. They will announce the signing of Carlos Tevez, but they have ended their interest in Samuel Eto'o, despite having a bid of £25 million accepted by Barcelona.

  According to sources, Tevez has chosen to join City ahead of Chelsea even though they also met the £25 million-plus asking price for the Argentine striker. It is understood that Tevez believes there is a greater chance of success at Eastlands though Chelsea insist they have balked at the demands over the deal and did not meet City's offer.

  However, it is concern about Chelsea's ambitions, as well as the astonishing wages being offered, that is fuelling Terry's interest in also considering a move.

  Nevertheless, if City offer £32 million it will be 'only' a £4 million increase in the bid that was summarily rejected by Chelsea last week, when they also insisted that central defender Terry, 28, would not be sold at any price.

  It had been thought that City would test Chelsea's resolve with an offer closer to £40 million. Ideally, for both clubs, Terry's future will be decided before Chelsea embark on their pre-season tour to the United States on Thursday. However, he is seeking a series of meetings with the club's hierarchy – he also hopes to meet owner Roman Abramovich – so that he can decide whether he should remain at Chelsea.

  Although the club insist they do not expect Terry to make a statement over his future, doubts will remain until he does so.

   

• zocoss

  12 Jul 09, 10:07

  JOHN TERRY CITY PLEA

  

  Chelsea skipper lays it on line to Roman Abramovich

   

   

  JOHN TERRY demanded the chance to speak to Manchester City during two hours of crisis talks with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich yesterday. 

  Terry stopped short of handing in an official transfer request but the central defender is determined to speak with City officials over the proposed move.

  The move comes 48 hours before Carlos Tevez flies in to Eastlands for a medical to seal his £25million switch.

  Abramovich is desperate to keep Terry but the England captain wants his future resolved before Chelsea leave for their pre-season tour of America on Thursday. 

  The pair met after Terry and the rest of the first- team squad took part in an event to support Chelsea's charity partner for the season, Right to Play. 

  After spending the afternoon at Wentworth, Terry slipped away to talk with the Russian billionaire in a meeting that lasted more than two hours. 

  Chelsea are reluctant to let Terry leave for City, even for an astonishing £50m. But the defender is determined to hear what they have to offer.

  City chief Mark Hughes is prepared to fly back from the club's pre- season training camp in Germany to convince the England captain his future is at Eastlands. 

  Terry, 28, will be offered £280,000 a week plus a £5m signing-on fee if Chelsea give them permission to talk. 

  There are already plans at City of setting up a John Terry Foundation, similar to the project proposed by the club during their pursuit of Kaka in January.

  City's new partnership with Umbro, who also hold a lucrative contract with Terry, is seen as crucial to the deal. 

  Although the defender has told friends it would be a huge wrench to leave Chelsea, he fears they have regressed after the big-spending era under Jose Mourinho. 

  He is also aware of talk at Stamford Bridge about the proposed transfer fee from City being used to complete the signing of Alexandre Pato from AC Milan for a similar fee. 

  Milan are in talks with Sevilla over the arrival of Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano and will let Pato leave for Chelsea if they can conclude negotiations with the Spanish club.

  Arrivals

  Terry has become increasingly disillusioned at Blues and is concerned that they will not be able to challenge Manchester United's domestic dominance next season. 

  Although Chelsea spent £18m signing Yuri Zhirkov, the only other arrivals are Middlesbrough keeper Ross Turnbull and Manchester City striker Daniel Sturridge. 

  Terry had been convinced after talks with Abramovich before the FA Cup final victory in May that David Villa and Franck Ribery were the club's two top targets but they have admitted defeat in their pursuit of both. 

  City are the up- and-coming team in English football with big bucks to realise the ambitions of super-rich owner Sheikh Mansour. 

  Terry believes City are just two players short of competing with Arsenal for a Champions League place.

• duanyuqiao

  12 Jul 09, 10:12

  haiz... another bad thing happen..

• zocoss

  12 Jul 09, 10:47

  Whatever happens, its better that he leave after this cos he will have lost the respect he used to get from the fans... Even if he stays, he will always be remembered like Steven Gerrard, who once handed in a transfer request cos he wanted to join Chelsea... In Terry's case, he met secretly with City's manager, he didn't denounce their pursuit even though it has been a few weeks now and instead added more fire to it... Terry's legendary status at Chelsea is as good as over...