At 36 years old, Terry has worn the Chelsea shirt on 713 occasions since he made his debut in 1998.
The Times reported in January that Terry had opted to stay with Chelsea at that time in an attempt to win a fifth Premier League title and a final appearance at Wembley for the Blues in the FA Cup, but added: "He has a good relationship with Mark Hughes, the Stoke manager, and came close to signing for him when he was at Manchester City eight years ago".
There will be opportunities for me to speak further about this over the coming weeks.
He now stands third in the club's list of all-time appearance makers and holds the record for captaining Chelsea, something Terry has done on 578 occasions. "I've always been conscious that I depart at the right time, in the right way, and I feel that the end of this season is the right time for the club and I", said Terry, who has scored 66 goals.
And Hughes has since admitted he discussed Terry's future with the man himself when Stoke visited Stamford Bridge last December, although he was at pains to play down any serious intent.
As a result, while he reiterated his desire to continue playing, he will be better off looking elsewhere for a more prominent role before hanging up his boots and moving into coaching.
"In that time, Chelsea has grown into one of the world's top clubs and it is only right that John's contribution is recognized".
"I will of course always be a Blue and am desperate to end my final season as a Chelsea player with more silverware".
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Williams said police have spoken to Stephens via a cell phone, but they maintained that they don't know his location. While Steve was on the run from authorities, he claimed he had killed at least 13 other people during his rampage.
Meanwhile Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: Everyone at Chelsea would like to place on record our thanks to John for all he has done for this football club.
Not since November has the centre back played in the English Premier League for the competition leader.
Other than a loan spell at Nottingham Forest, Terry has never turned out for another side and has racked up over 700 appearances at Chelsea.
He should have won many more than the 78 England caps he accumulated before announcing his worldwide retirement in 2012.
But the end of his global career was overshadowed by allegations he racially abused Anton Ferdinand, the younger brother of his England centre-back partner Rio Ferdinand, while playing for Chelsea against Queens Park Rangers in 2011.
After being stripped of the England captaincy, Terry was cleared of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in a London court in July 2012.
Terry has started just four league games this season in Antonio Conte's remodelled team.
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