Stoke City are reportedly interested in signing John Terry this summer.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes
Stoke City are reportedly interested in signing Chelsea defender, John Terry, in the summer transfer window.
The former England defender has announced that the 2016-17 season will be his last in the Chelsea shirt. The 36-year-old has been in Chelsea’s books since 1995, when he joined the club’s youth academy. He went on to cement his position in the club’s pantheon of greats.
According to reports from The Sun, Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is hoping to bring the defender to the bet365 Stadium in the summer.
It remains to be seen whether he succeeds in persuading Terry to play for them, given that the Chelsea skipper will surely be receiving loads of offers from the MLS and Chinese Super League.
Stoke City’s Bruno Martins Indi in action with Chelsea’s Diego Costa
“John’s got to move somewhere, he’s someone I know very well, but I think there would be a lot of interest in John Terry,” said Hughes, as quoted by Stokesentinel.co.uk.
“Whether or not we’d be able to present anything to John that would make him think, I don’t know, I haven’t had that conversation.
“We spoke briefly after the Chelsea game here this year and had a laugh and a joke about things – whether that constitutes me personally asking about his future, I don’t know.”
Another priority for Hughes is to make Bruno Martins Indi’s loan deal permanent in the summer.
Stoke City could face problems in signing him permanently because Indi’s parent club, Porto, is reluctant to sell.
According to Stokesentinel.co.uk, a fee of £8.47 million (€10 million) had been provisionally agreed between the two clubs for the Dutch midfielder.
However, Hughes has said that the deal is far from being done. The silver lining for Hughes and Stoke is Indi’s willingness to continue with the Premier League club.
“We’re trying to do that one, but he’s not our player, so we’re in the hands of Porto,” Hughes added.
“They hold all the cards, they’re his club. We’ll try to make it happen and I know Bruno is very happy at the club. It’s our intention to do everything in our power to make that happen.
“But it could be dependent on how easy or difficult his club are to negotiate with, so it’s not one that’s going to happen very quickly, let’s put it that way.
“I think there’s an area that we an negotiate (regarding the fee) and I think that’s where we’re at, but it could be that at the moment Porto have made a stand that they don’t want to sell.
Chelsea’s John Terry lines up before the match
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