Chelsea confirm captain John Terry 'is considering' new one-year contract offer

John Terry may not bid farewell to Chelsea this summer after all, with the club having now confirmed that their long-serving captain is considering the offer of a new one-year contract. Speculation over the 35-year-old's future has raged for almost four months now since he announced publicly in late January that there was no new deal in the offing.

Such a decision looked set to end Terry's 21-year career at Chelsea, a club he first joined as a 14-year-old after a brief stint on the books at West Ham United. However, confirmation of Antonio Conte's appointment as the permanent successor to Jose Mourinho after Euro 2016 gave rise to hope that he would be retained for at least another season.

"[director] Marina Granovskaia and [chairman] Bruce Buck met with John and his agent this week and offered him a one-year contract extension," a Chelsea spokesman said during Guus Hiddink's final pre-match press conference held before the last game of the season against champions Leicester City. "Obviously 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."

Hiddink admitted after the 1-1 draw with Liverpool earlier this week that contact had been made between Chelsea and Terry, who has won four top-flight titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups and both the Champions and Europa Leagues in addition to leading England during his illustrious and often controversial career to date.

Before that, with the player having seemingly ruled out any possibility of representing another English club and his chances of landing a big payday in Major League Soccer (MLS) in doubt, rumours suggested that he could become the latest high-profile name to join the Chinese Super League. According to a report that originated in The Sun, Terry was said to be closing in on a lucrative £12m ($17m)-per-year contract to move to East Asia amid interest from Sven-Goran Eriksson's SIPG FC and a Guangzhou Evergrande side currently managed by former Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari.