Chelsea

Ray Wilkins backs John Terry for long-term Chelsea stay under Antonio Conte

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 20 May 2016

Ray Wilkins is confident that Antonio Conte can manage John Terry's playing career in order to keep the skipper at the club well into his late 30s.

Former Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins has backed incoming boss Antonio Conte to prolong John Terry's career at Stamford Bridge by another couple of years.

The Blues skipper, 35, ended doubt over his future earlier this week by penning a new short-term deal in West London that will see him through until next summer.

Wilkins is delighted to see Terry commit to the club, but believes that he has a part to play beyond next season in the same way that Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo saw their own playing careers extended by Conte at Juventus.

"The only thing I can say about Conte is that he had Pirlo at Juventus well into his mid-30s," he told talkSPORT. "Buffon is 38. [Conte] doesn't care how old they are. If they can play, he'll stick them in there, so I'm sure he'll want to use John's experience.

"That's all you want as a player. I've got a season ticket at Chelsea and I go to most of the games. He's the best defender they've got, so it would have been folly to allow him to leave."

Terry, who has spent his entire 18-year professional career at Chelsea, worked under Wilkins for two seasons between 2008 and 2010.