John Terry says the “end goal” of his coaching career is to manage Chelsea and says he would “never” take the Tottenham job.
The former Blues defender is currently assistant to Dean Smith at Aston Villa, and says he has turned down two offers from “decent-sized clubs” to take his first step into management.
Terry has been credited with aiding the development of the likes of Tyrone Mings and Erzi Konsa, who form the partnership at the heart of a Villa defence which was among the best in the Premier League for much of the season.
As he continues to cut his teeth on Smith’s coaching staff, Terry revealed more about his own managerial aspirations in an interview with The Times.
“My ambition is very, very clear,” he told the newspaper. “There’s an end goal for me and that’s managing Chelsea Football Club. My team will be winning — hopefully — very honest, very organised, very well drilled, very well prepared and with a back four.
“I look at Lamps [Frank Lampard] and Stevie [Gerrard] and the success they’ve both had. Lamps in his first season at Chelsea, and what Stevie’s done up at Rangers is unbelievable. l probably wasn’t ready to go into coaching then. I am now. But I’m not just going to jump into anything. I’ve turned down two jobs since I’ve been here.
“Decent-sized clubs. But it’s going to take something special for me to leave here. I’ve got one more year left at Villa. I’m in a privileged position because I’m in no rush. I want to be a No 1 but I’ll get there at some point.”
Chelsea’s fierce rivals Tottenham are on the hunt for a new manager this summer, with Ryan Mason having seen out the season as interim head coach following Jose Mourinho’s sacking.
The prospect of Mourinho ending up in the Spurs job was once unthinkable, given his own Stamford Bridge affiliations, but Terry says there is no chance of him ever following suit.
“Never take it,” he added. “Never. Spurs is the only one I wouldn’t take. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be welcome at West Ham too.”
