Former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli believes John Terry would help Antonio Conte acclimatise to the Premier League and should be offered a new contract by the club.
Conte will take over the Blues reins in the summer after leading Italy at Euro 2016 but the ex-Juventus manager could be without Terry for his debut season in England, with the defender’s contract set to expire in the summer.
Terry is reportedly holding talks over whether his deal will be renewed or not with club owner Roman Abramovich's representatives on Thursday, though Conte is understood to have little say on the decision.
Chelsea fans have been demanding answers to whether club captain Terry will stay put and Vialli, who handed the centre-back his first-team debut 18 years ago, still believes he can be asset at the age of 35.
“John could be useful or helpful to Antonio because when you first join a club, you would like to have two or three senior players that are out there spreading your message to the other players and also helping you out to acclimatise to the new reality [of the Premier League],” Vialli told Goal.
"Juventus did it with Del Piero and Roma did it with Totti, [AC Milan] with Maldini. As much as it is painful, there is a time where as a club you feel like it is time to turn over a new leaf and you start again and you find the new John Terry, the new future captain, leader and legend.
"I think it would be great if Chelsea, John and Antonio find a way to be happy. I think they all deserve to be happy."
Vialli is no stranger to success himself in a blue shirt having won the FA Cup with the club as a player, before going on to lead them to the League Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and Super Cup treble in 1997/98 as a player-manager.
There have been some reports that Terry will have to organise his own send off at the club as Chelsea didn't offer former players Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard or Didier Drogba a formal farewell when they left Stamford Bridge respectively.
Vialli hinted that Chelsea could have handled things differently with Terry, who has won 14 trophies and made 703 times appearance during his time in west London.
"Some owners might feel like they want to run it by being over professional without letting feelings and emotions get in the way," Vialli added. "In order to be able to make bright decisions without being affected by anything, and at the end of the day they do that because they want to make the club successful, financial sustainable and to get trophies in the cabinet."
"If it was me, I would consider some of these players an asset for the club even when they are too old to carry on playing at a certain level. So I would just try my best to find a solution in order to use them and send out a message and create a legacy and create an atmosphere around the club that suits the fans and creates a sense of belonging that can be passed on to a new generation of players."
It is understood that Chelsea and Terry will make an announcement in the next few days regarding his future at the club as the Premier League season draws to a close.
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- Goal