Former Chelsea Star Calls For John Terry To Be Axed In Order For Club To Reach 'Next Step'

Former Chelsea favourite Frank Leboeuf believes his former club will only be successful again provided they cut ties with captain John Terry and other stalwarts at the club, The Sun reports.

The former England international was handed a new one-year deal by Antonio Conte during the summer, which brought an end to the intense speculation on where his future lay.

There was fan unrest, along with condemnation from former players, when Terry publically revealed the club had not offered him a new contract with only months to go on his current deal despite the 35-year-old’s storied career at the club.

But former Chelsea and France international Leboeuf believes it was a mistake for the Blues to allow Terry to continue his career at Stamford Bridge.

Leboeuf, who made over 200 appearances for Chelsea between 1996 and 2001 said:

“I am a Chelsea fan, even though I don’t play for them anymore, and last season was a very bad season.”“It was not what you expected from Chelsea, with all the fantastic players they have. It was a very bad season.”

“I hope this season they will go back to who they are and where they should be — and that is the top four, challenging for the title — but they have to think of the future.”

“Some players are older now. There are not only question marks over John Terry, but Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic as well.”

“Those players have had a fantastic time at Chelsea, but maybe now it is time to think about the future.”

Chelsea failed in their attempts to sign John Stones from Everton last summer and the 1998 World Cup-winner believes going for younger players was the correct approach instead of keeping hold of former heroes.

He said:

“They went for John Stones last year and maybe players like that are now the way to go. We want to get stronger and you have to accept you can only do this by getting rid of great players when they are past their prime.”

“Look at Paris Saint-Germain, they let Zlatan Ibrahimovic go because they felt they needed to go to the next step and a new era.”

“Chelsea now have to do the same, to do the same with Terry and some of the others.”