Premiership - Terry seals bumper new contract
Eurosport - Fri, 27 Jul 20:50:00 2007
Chelsea captain John Terry has put pen to a new five-year contract that will tie him to the Stamford Bridge club until 2012.
It is believed the England defender had been holding out for a weekly wage of £150,000-a-week, a figure that would make him the best-paid player in the world.
Terry's future had been in some doubt after talks between him and the club broke down towards the end of last season.
Despite the massive expenditure, Chelsea will be delighted to have tied down their talismanic skipper.
"I'm really happy this has now been concluded," said Terry.
"There has been a lot of speculation but these things take time and I never had any doubts that I wanted to stay at Chelsea and that the club wanted me to stay.
"I hope that the fans can see that we are all trying to build something special here, both for now and for the future, and I want to be a part of that.
"I have been at Chelsea all my career and have the privilege of being captain. Now it's time to look forward to the new season, which we are all very confident about."
Chief executive Peter Kenyon added: "This is an important day for Chelsea. This was the right deal for us and for John.
"As a club we are committed to try and keep our players together on long term deals and this was a natural progression from last season when other players also committed themselves for the long term.
"As captain, John is clearly a key player for Chelsea and also a great symbol of the club so naturally we are pleased this has been agreed."
Alex Chick / Eurosport