John Terry heads for Italy in bid to discover extent of injury
Chelsea captain John Terry will see a specialist in Italy this week, as the defender attempts to discover more about the mysterious leg injury that threatens to derail his season.
A nerve problem in his right leg saw Terry miss the Blues’ 3-0 defeat to Sunderland on Sunday, and subsequently pull out of the England squad to face France at Wembley tonight. He has already stated that he won’t play in his club’s clash at Birmingham City on Saturday, and some reports have claimed that he could be looking at a matter of months on the sidelines.
The 29-year-old is understood to have flown to Italy with Chelsea club doctor Brian English this morning.
Chelsea have problems at centre back, with Brazilian international Alex ruled out for up to two months as he undergoes exploratory surgery on his injured knee. Makeshift centre backs Branislav Ivanovic and Paulo Ferriera were paired in defence for the defeat to Sunderland, but as the result suggests, that wasn’t overly successful, and there have now been calls for boss Carlo Ancelotti to turn to Dutch defender Jeffrey Bruma – who only turned 19 on Saturday.
Terry’s problem is of deep concern to Chelsea, and with the champions seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to just two points following recent defeats to Liverpool and Sunderland, they will be keen to get their skipper back sooner rather than later. However, the man himself fears that it could be the latter.
“I have been struggling with a nerve pain coming from the top of my leg down to my hamstring and to the outside of my calf,” said Terry yesterday, “It has been manageable up until the last two weeks but when we played Fulham (last Wednesday) I stretched to win the ball against Clint Dempsey and it got a lot worse.
“It is at a point where I can’t carry on with it. I used to be able to make it through games because the adrenaline gets going and you blank the pain out, but now there really is no decision to make. After games I am in agony and not sleeping at all.
“I need to take a few weeks rest, see a couple of specialists and solve the problem.
“Basically, I am trying whatever is suggested. I’m at my wits’ end. I know I won’t play on Saturday against Birmingham City, but beyond that there are no clues. It could be weeks, it could be months.
“Everybody is coming up with different names and I’ve said I will go anywhere if someone can solve the problem.”
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