John Terry's career in football is far from over and the former club captain has set his sights on a new influential role in the industry.
Far from heading balls coming into his own box or even teaching young players how to do it, Terry has now moved on from the on-field action in a search to understand and learn more about the technical and business aspects of clubs. Terry is still employed as an academy consultant at Cobham.
His move, which comes four years after his Aston Villa retirement, five years since he left Chelsea as a player and just over year removed from his assistant manager time with Dean Smith. Terry spent nearly three years in that non-playing role.
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The next stage of Terry's footballing cycle is set to take place in the boardroom though, as the former England captain starts a FIFA diploma course for club executives, according to MailSport. On the course alongside Terry will be Fabio Cannavaro and Philippe Senderos and the pair will be part of what is just the second year the club management diploma has been run.
The route into footballing business has previously been completed by former Everton and Australia striker Tim Cahill - who is now on the board of directors at Belgian club Eupen. It is a journey that, should Terry go to the top in and want to pursue, could bring him back to his boyhood club earlier than first imagined.
At 41, Terry is part of a group of former players trying to make their way at executive level in football. With ex-teammate Petr Cech already having experience in a key role during his spell as a technical and performance advisor, there is a precedent for players to return at Stamford Bridge and given the current situation, it may open up for him.
Cech left his position at the club earlier this summer after Todd Boehly and the new ownership group made key changes, with director Marina Granovskaia also leaving the club.
Although Terry still has a long way to prove his capabilities at the elite level, he is someone with an understanding of the club and it's mechanics.
Boehly is currently planning to have a director of football added, and has made progress in the past week with RB Salzburg director Christoph Freund.
The Blues have identified the director as someone to fill their vacant position having never appointed an official director of football, and it has also left room for advisory and consultancy roles for Michael Edwards and Luis Campos. Terry's start to developing these skills will be junior and not immediately desirable for the new owners, but his career path will be.
Terry has also previously pledged interest in boardroom level input at the club after attempting to secure a future 10% stake in the club during the ownership change this summer.
In a joint effort with former women's player Claire Rafferty, among others, a group named True Blue Consortium sought to align themselves with one of the groups interested in buying the club before offering fans the chance to purchase 'fan tokens' in exchange for voting rights.
In the statement, which is now relevant again with Terry's directorial ambitions, he said, "Chelsea has been such an important part of my life for 22 years. I want to see the club's history and heritage protected as we go into a new era with like-minded people who have the same long-term vision of building the best football club in the world and understand how important our DNA is."
This type of move to gain further education was always an option for Terry as well after a statement released following his academy consultant role read: "This flexibility is beneficial for both John and the Academy, as it allows him to continue to develop his own coaching skills alongside other commitments, while being used optimally within our development programme."
Another of Terry's former teammates, Juan Mata, has also been tipped for a consultancy and director role in the future.
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