FanHouse John Terry

The whole business of Manchester City's pursuit of Chelsea captain John Terry seemed like the very definition of the "silly season" that is the European summer transfer window. For weeks there have been endless reports of how suddenly cash-flush City wanted the Chelsea defender, essentially offering him the moon (and buckets of cash) to make the switch.

Sunday, finally, Terry himself issued a statement to the club's official website that his future remains committed to Stamford Bridge. Terry basically said what people like myself have been thinking this whole time -- that he'd never leave Chelsea.

"Fan" might not even be the right word ... it sort of sounds like Terry has Cristiano Ronaldo posters all over his bedroom walls. And it's a little bit odd, as the nominees for the Premiership's player of the year were just announced, and the top two candidates are Cristiano and Terry's Chelsea teammate, Didier Drogba.

Terry favors Cristiano for the award, and in a big, big way.

'I could watch Manchester United just to watch him. He does things with the ball that you don't see anyone else in the world doing the at the minute. He is the best in the world at the moment.

'When he is at his best I don't think there are many people who can stop him. When he is running at you like he does with his skills and tricks, you don't know which way he is going.

Straight into the strong, loving arms of John Terry, if Terry has his way.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching Cristiano as much as anyone, but he's supposed to be Terry's arch rival. A simple "he's pretty good" would have done just fine. Admiration for a competitor's game isn't at all inappropriate, but I don't know that the excessive gushing was necessary. Especially when Terry's teammate Drogba has two more goals on the season than Cristiano.

Chelsea supporters will be relieved to hear that defender John Terry is just fine, and should be fit to go for Chelsea's Saturday Premiership contest against Portsmouth. As it turns out, the boot he took to the grill was far more serious than it looked:



That's just gross. Arsenal's Abou Diaby made an attempt to clear the corner kick, Terry dove for the header, and wham ... Shoe vs. Face. Shoe 1, Face 0. Terry swallowed his tongue and was stretchered out of the stadium.

But all's well that ends well, I suppose. Terry says he doesn't remember a minute of it. He says he remembers coming out for the second half, and then doesn't remember anything else until he awoke in the ambulance. Fortunately for Terry, he can relive the incident from every angle, as it's on YouTube about 75,000 times.

Chelsea needs him, too. They're 9 points back of Manchester United, with hopes of catching them fading by the day.

Source: Guardian Unlimited / Terry could be back on Saturday
Source: Tribal Football / Chelsea's Terry: I can't remember anything