The 35-year-old defender revealed in January that his contract, which expires in June, would not be extended only for the club to offer him fresh terms – including “a different role” – earlier this week.
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Co-presenter Chris Hollins said: “Fantastic reception for John Terry”.
“First and foremost I’d like to wish Claudio Ranieri and Leicester congratulations”, he said. “The club knows that, the fans know that”.
“The best moments of my life have been in this stadium”.
“This has been a hard season, we are where we deserve to be in the league”, added Terry.
However, Hiddink has distanced himself from the notion of an emotional farewell: “It sounds dramatic, but I know every now and then I will come back and see what I can do – help out the young players”.
He said Chelsea had experienced “a hard season” but added: “We’ve all accepted things have not been good enough, but we’ll be back next year and we’ll be fighting for this title”.
The centre-back was in an emotional state when he addressed fans following their chants wishing him to stay, in which he stated that he does not want to depart the club while thanking them for their support during their hard season.
Guus Hiddink reflects on Chelsea captain John Terry describing him as a father figure.
However, when thanking the supporters for their backing over this season and their more successful campaigns, he wrote: “That’s where we want to get back to, together”.
The Dutchman said: “It’s good when both parties start to talk”.
It led Terry to continue in what also felt a little like a farewell address.
But two-time Champions League victor Deco, who spent two years at Chelsea before leaving in 2010, is in no doubt that Terry is worthy of an extension. I don’t think that’s a proper signing off.
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“I put him in the team when there were a couple of champions of the world and European champions, (Marcel) Desailly and Frank Leboeuf”. No, I have full confidence they will go up now in this period.
