Celtic have overtaken rivals Rangers in the race to acquire former Chelsea and England captain John Terry’s signature, as per reports. The Hoops have emerged the favourite to sign the 37-year-old, whose last game was played with Aston Villa.
Celtic could lose Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic this summer and have so set their sight on the veteran centre-back as a replacement just in case.
Terry had 22 successful years at Stamford Bridge, where he won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, one Europa League and one Champions League, but moved to Villa upon the expiration of his deal with the Blues in the summer of 2017.
He helped Villa to the Championship play-off final, where they succumbed to Fulham’s prowess, and the club’s financial standing meant they were not buoyant enough to retain Terry at Villa Park.
The 78-cap England international was linked with Derby earlier this summer after his former friend and former teammate Frank Lampard became the manager at Pride Park.
However, the Rams have recently completed a deal for Curtis Davies so their interest in Terry seems to have abated.
Terry was linked with Rangers back in May, when former international team-mate Steven Gerrard took charge at Ibrox, while in 2006 he revealed his support of Celtic as a child.
Speaking after Chelsea and Celtic met in a friendly match, Terry said: “I have always been a bit of a Celtic fan. Like my brother Paul, I followed Scottish football as well as English football when I was young.
“He supported Rangers and I wanted some atmosphere in the house so I went for Celtic.”