John Terry has revealed he will stay at Aston Villa if the club secure promotion to the Premier League.
Terry joined Steve Bruce’s team last July on a one-year deal after leaving Chelsea, in one of the most lucrative deals signed by a player in the Championship.
The Villa captain recently expressed an interest in moving into management but, ahead of his side’s play-off semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough, live on Sky, Terry says he hopes to be playing Premier League football at Villa Park next season.
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“I hope this isn’t the end,” the defender told the club’s official website. “If we go up, I’m staying. And hopefully I can play for a few more years in the Premier League.
“It’s only fair that if we go up, which is the belief within the group, that I stick around. It’s in my contract when I hit a certain number of matches.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it here and love the way I’ve been accepted. I had to perform to get the approval of the fans and the group, and it was a big call by the manager, too, to sign someone at 36 years of age and coming to the end of their career.
“The job isn’t done yet. We’ve got a few more games to go. But hopefully I am here next season.”
The former England captain has made 32 league appearances for Villa, helping them to seal a play-off place for the first time in their history.
As the club seeks a return to the top-tier after a two-year absence, Terry stressed his move was motivated by the promotion aim.
“What was important for me is I never wanted it to be seen as a move simply because I was coming towards the end of my career, and that people thought ‘it’s just another year of getting paid for him’. That’s never been me as a character or me as a footballer. I’d like to think the fans have seen that in my performances this year,” he added.
“I was 36 when I signed and couldn’t have people thinking: ‘he’s done now, he’s just winding down’. I stayed really fit over the summer, even before I knew who my next club was going to be. I put myself in the best possible position to come in and give it a real go.
“Here we are 10 months on. I’d say it’s gone fairly quickly, other than the period of time I spent out injured. But I’ve really enjoyed it and we’ve still got a few games to try and achieve our aim.”
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