Simon Jordan comments on trying to sign John Terry for Crystal Palace
Over the years, few players are as lauded as John Terry is now by the Chelsea and football fans alike especially given how tough it is to keep youth academy prospects at the club. The now 43-year-old is considered to be a club legend with his time often talked about as one of the greatest spells ever. That was despite offers of a move away although reports did indicate that Terry considered leaving once or twice.
In the end, he never made the move away and opted to stay at the club for over 20 years, making over 700 appearances for the Blues in the process. Not only that, Terry was a key part of not one but five title winning squads and even won both the Europa League and Champions League as well. Yet all that could have been over before it started as Simon Jordan tried to buy Terry for Crystal Palace.
Simon Jordan comments on the time when Chelsea refused to let John Terry leave in 2000
Jordan, the former Crystal Palace owner, bought the Eagles in 2000 and was looking to make a big splash with his first signing by bringing in a hot prospect. His target was John Terry and the defender, at the time, was struggling to break into the first team. He had just finished a loan spell at Nottingham Forest and had made only 16 appearances for the Blues across two seasons.
Furthermore, Terry had played just six games for Forest during his short-term loan spell at the back end of the 1999/2000 season but it was enough for Jordan. However, the former Crystal Palace owner revealed that he was rebuffed by Chelsea chairman Ken Bates. Jordan revealed that he had called Bates with an offer but the chairman gave him a staunch no and sent him packing.
“Here’s a fun fact for you. I don’t know if you know this, you (John Terry) were out on loan at Nottingham Forest in the 1999/2000 season. And I had bought Palace in 2000, and I put a phone call into Batesey, and said, ‘I’d like to sign that kid John Terry’,” Jordan told Terry on his YouTube channel Up Front.
“And I got, ‘Well you can f*** off. He’s a top player, he’s not going to your club.”
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