Former Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly says it’s time for John Terry to leave the club and give a new player the opportunity to shine. Desailly left Chelsea to Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa shortly after Terry was signed in 2004.
Terry in February 2016 initially announced he was leaving the club in the summer of 2016 as there were no talks held to discuss a new contract, but later in May 2016 he signed a one-year contract extension.
The 36-year-old has only played for six minutes this Premier League season in mid-September with Antonio Conte having preference for David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill for his formation.
There have been talks of Terry joining Bournemouth and his impact might not be felt should he leave as the Italian manager also has French centre-back Kurt Zouma at his disposal.
Desilly now urges his former teammate to give room to new players to develop their career.
“I left because they were faster than me, better than me and it was my time to go — their time to shine — and now it’s his time,” Desailly told Sportsmail.
“It’s great to see that he’s been able to handle it. You are the captain, you have been put to the side a bit because other players are more suited for the tactics required, but you’re still there present, you are still there focused.
“You remind one of the players when he’s not training well ‘Oh, what are you doing?’ so these are the small important details that John is going over.
“I’m happy because it’s a different phase for John — leader as a first-choice but also leader as a second-choice. He’s there to boost and to be present in the group so it’s a different approach of John.”
However, Desailly still believes Terry has a lot to offer if he used more frequently and decides to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge.
“He’s good because he gives a lot of pressure to the first choice that Conte has selected — Zouma or Cahill,’ Desailly added.
“When you have Terry on the bench I can tell you that when you come on the pitch and you want to perform because you know that he can change you [out of the team] at any time.”