The coming summer transfer window is likely to see Chelsea separate with a number of players, with a number of heavy farewell on the horizon after a strong end of the season
Enzo Maresca can be brought for a challenging second summer transfer window in Chelsea while he wants to return the club to a place of prestige. He may have to make difficult phone calls in the coming months, which could mean that certain friendships are broken at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea, who is confronted with real betis in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday, has recently been largely seen as a team of individuals. After securing fourth place on Sunday and a place in next season's Champions League, it is clear that there are relationships within this team that are worth staying together.
That sentiment reflects how John Terry felt when the best friend and fellow clad legend Frank Lampard decided to leave the blues in 2014. After a successful 13-year-old Stint with three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, One Champions League and a Europa League triumph, 'Super Frank' felt his time in West London.
Chelsea's all time of leading scorer left in a controversial way, not least because many supporters were reluctant to see him go, even at 36. It was initially believed that he had agreed to join New York City FC prior to their MLS Debuest in January 2015, but he finally dedicated that with a sitting club with a sitting club in that place with a shatter club with a sitting club, which was finally cited with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club, which was finally cited with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club, which was finally a contracting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club, which was finally cited with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club with a sitting club, which was finally a city-city city-in-club. Full season.
Chelsea Stalwart Terry was left by the split, which took place for three years before he left Stamford Bridge for Aston Villa. He found it particularly difficult to become fellow club greats such as Lampard and Ashley Cole his rivals, with the latter also left in 2014 to draw for Roma.
“It just doesn't seem good to see them in different shirts. Maybe it will decrease after a while, but it doesn't seem right,” Terry said in 2014, via Football.London. “We grew up and won together and lost together in Chelsea. We did a lot of great things and it was sad to see them go.”
Terry, 44, and Lampard, 46, were the foundation of the golden years of Chelsea, and always ensured that the blues remained a formidable force in the midst of a rotating door of managers and selection players. But for the first time in almost 15 years, the club icons have experienced their football fights from opposite sides.
Despite the bittersweet departure of his comrade, Terry's admiration for Lampard never. And he has often chosen his friend as the best of Chelsea of ​​all time.
“There is no doubt for me [he’s the best]. Before that there was Gianfranco Zola, but Lampard has been an absolute legend here and his legacy will ever remain, “Terry added.” It is a legacy for the younger boys to come and try to fill those big boots and replicate what he did. That will be very difficult for someone, but he is an absolute hero for the fans, also with the players and how he pushed us individually and collectively.
“He has been an idol and someone I inspired to be in training. He was a great character around the place, but in terms of football I never met anyone who works as hard as he to improve his game.”
Both Lampard and Terry have rewinded their Chelsea compounds since his retirement, each of whom briefly serves in coaching slots, although they never patrol the same touchline. Lampard took the reins from July 2019 to January 2021 before parachuting to endure an 11-game crisis towards the end of a tumultuous 2022/23 season.
Terry took a different path and was connected at the beginning of 2022 as a consultant before he became a Chelsea Academy coach 18 months later. He is currently active in the Dugout for the 26ers of the Baller League, while Lampard barely missed to secure Coventry City for the play-off final of the championship.