John Terry’s Chelsea departure caused due to managerial uncertainty at Chelsea

And interim manager Hiddink insisted the door is still open for captain Terry to win a new deal at Stamford Bridge, despite being told there is now no extension on the table.

The 35-year-old central defender has spent his entire career at Chelsea and last May won the Premier League title for the fourth time. He is a fantastic servant to Chelsea and a superb captain.

“There’s absolutely no way they have an intension of offering John Terry a new contract and that’s why he has come out to the press, because I think he is disgusted the club have dismissed him out of hand”.

Chinese clubs have been flexing their muscles in signing global players during the January transfer, and Terry could opt to follow the trend if one of the CSL teams offer a lucrative deal that lured his former Chelsea teammate Ramires to play for Jiangsu Suning FC.

“I’m playing great and I’ve got a couple of years to go”.

Terry said he was told before last week’s Arsenal game that he would not receive a new contract. “As such, the club will keep the channels of dialogue open”. He’s not what you normally see in a 35-year-old player, when you feel you are getting a bit slower and can not accept you’re in a danger zone for red cards etc. But there’s none of that with John. “It took me a couple of days to get over”. I knew before the Arsenal game [that my contract was not to be renewed] so mentally I’ve kind of accepted it. We just have to move on.

“I think he still has a role to play”.

“We have to see in the progress reports and what’s coming up in the transition of the management”.

Speaking ahead of his team’s Premier League trip to Watford, Hiddink conceded Terry’s decision caught him by surprise.

I couldn’t play for another Premier League club.

Terry added: “Ideally I would have loved to stay, but the club’s moving in a different direction”.

“John’s statistics and the view I have on him is that he is very fit”, said the veteran Dutch boss.

“He was the symbol of cohesion inside Chelsea’s club because him, (Frank) Lampard, (Didier) Drogba and Cech were the players who carried the club’s values for long periods”.

“There was no specific decision made yet”, explained the Dutchman at his media briefing.