JT demands Chelsea talks

News which can only increase the gossip that he is interested in a move to City: John Terry is to seek talks with Roman Abramovich himself concerning his future at the club. And it is become increasingly apparent that Terry's dissatisfaction at Chelsea, and attraction to City, is not purely financial. It's certainly important, but Chelsea's failure to buy big for the third consecutive summer has also frustrated him, as Jason Burt writes in The Telegraph:

Terry's disenchantment is, therefore, twofold: he feels he deserves more money and also, importantly, that Chelsea have to spend big. He was unhappy in January to see his team-mate, and friend, Wayne Bridge sold to City, especially after Terry had urged Scolari to play the full-back in the problematic left midfield position. And although Terry maintains he did not undermine Scolari he made clear to the hierarchy that the coach's training methods and tactics were not good enough.

Terry needs convincing to stay at Chelsea. He met Ancelotti and then Eugene Tenenbaum – a director and Abramovich's right-hand man – on Thursday and requested further, more formal meetings, just in case anyone doubted his seriousness. Chelsea do not, even if they still firmly believe he will stay.

It's worth reading both Jason Burt articles in Saturday's Telegraph. But the fascinating thing from a City perspective is not only that John Terry is seriously considering us from a financial perspective, but also from a non-financial perspective as well.

It was always going to be the case after the takeover that our newfound wealth would allow us to attract new players, and, in time, our ambition and spending would bring even better players too. But I never would have expected that within only eleven months we would already be at the point where the captain of Chelsea and England would be thinking through a move to City, of course because of our £300k/week offer, but also because of our potential and our new players. As I've previously written, a transfer coup this bold has never happened before.

Nevertheless, I've written today how unenthusiastic I am about these megadeals. Even if Terry's desire to play for City isn't purely financial, I'd still rather we sign a defender whom we don't need to offer £300,000 weekly to bring to Eastlands. And I realise that this position would cost us points next season too. But I'd be perfectly happy with Joleon Lescott.