John Terry addresses speculation linking him with Aston Villa exit

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The Villa assistant manager has been linked with other jobs including that of Derby County boss.

Aston Villa assistant manager John Terry has reiterated his desire to remain at the West Midlands club amid speculation linking him elsewhere and stressed that he could not have wished for a better manager to learn from than Dean Smith (Daily Mail).

With his former Chelsea and England teammate Frank Lampard having impressed in his first season at management with Derby County and appearing to be edging closer to the Blues reins, it was rumoured that Terry was being sought after by the Pride Park outfit, as was reported in a separate Mail article.

Earlier this month, however, the former Blues and Three Lions captain penned a new contract extension that will keep him at the newly promoted Premier League outfit until 2021, as was announced by the club’s official website.

“I’ve seen the links with other jobs but I’m 100 per cent concentrated on Villa,” Terry told the Daily Mail. “I couldn’t have wished for a better manager to learn from than Dean. The gaffer has a great knowledge of the game and I loved working and learning from him last season. He’s very inclusive with the coaching staff and he’s created an environment where everyone wants to improve. It’s infectious.

“I help the lads with unit work or with individual sessions but their appetite to learn is excellent. I can be watching the game back afterwards thinking we need to improve on that when a player will text and say ”I wasn’t happy with that in the 58th minute, can we go over that on Monday?” It’s a massive club with huge fan base and I just hope we can find our feet quickly in the Premier League and give a good account of ourselves.”

Terry spent his final season as a player at Villa in 2017-18, leading the side to the playoff final where they fell just short at the hands of Fulham.

Not long after retiring, the former PFA Player of the Year award winner was appointed by Smith in October 2018, playing a part in the club’s top-six finish and subsequent playoff final victory against Derby.