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Former Chelsea star John Terry says Sir Alex Ferguson used to “phone him every week” as he tried to sign him as a youngster.
Speaking on The William Hill podcast via The Daily Mail, Terry said that despite the desperate attempts by United and Arsenal to sign him as a 14 year old, ultimately he “just knew” that Chelsea was the right club for him.
The former centre back explained that he left West Ham’s academy to join Arsenal for a year but “at that time I was floating between Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.
“Arsenal and United both rolled out the red carpet for me, but Chelsea didn’t do anything. I had Sir Alex Ferguson phoning my house every week to speak to me and my dad, checking that I was going to school and training correctly.”
However, despite all this attention from the greatest manager in the history of football and the concomitant lack of attention from the then Chelsea boss, Glenn Hoddle, 14-year old Terry opted for Stamford Bridge. The rest, of course, is history.
The record books, of course, say that Terry won 17 titles at Stamford Bridge, including five Premier League titles, seven FA Cups, and a Champions League. The latter became something of a standing joke among fans of rival clubs, however, when he put the Chelsea kit on to receive the trophy even though he was not in the squad.
John Terry in his full kit after Chelsea won the 2012 Champions League. pic.twitter.com/v3Hpr6JU20
— Sky Sports Retro (@SkySportsRetro) September 14, 2021
Whether his trophy haul vindicates his decision to snub Sir Alex is debatable, as United in the same period won 11 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions Leagues.
The latter of those Champions League wins, ironically, was very much courtesy of Mr Terry himself and his missed penalty in Moscow.
Although it sticks in United fans’ throats to admit Terry was a fine defender, Sir Alex had obviously spotted it at a very young age and the tireless Scot left no stone unturned to try to secure the 14-year old future England captain’s signature.
Had he succeeded, it is possible that Chelsea would have been less successful in those 22 years and United might have won even more titles with Terry at the back.
On the other hand, as good a player as he was, it is hard to imagine he could have outperformed the likes of Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, Jaap Stam, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.
There is also the issue of how well his personality would have gelled with Sir Alex’s sides, given his penchant for sleeping with teammates’ wives, even if we were to discount his mother’s propensity for shoplifting.
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