John Terry Secures New Job After Voicing Interest in Joining Frank Lampard at Chelsea

John Terry is set to play his first game since being fired from Frank Lampard’s backroom staff at Chelsea.

Chelsea legend John Terry is set to join Dean Smith’s coaching staff as the former Aston Villa manager prepares to take over as interim manager at Leicester City. Terry was linked with a job with Frank Lampard after the 44-year-old returned to Stamford Bridge for a second spell as manager, but it now appears that he will return to the Midlands for his new role.

Smith is expected to succeed Brendan Rodgers at the King Power Stadium after concerns were raised about the potential arrival of ex-Leeds coach Jesse Marsch, who was previously listed as the bookmakers’ favourite to take the job.

Terry worked with Smith at Villa Park in 2021 before leaving to try to land his own manager’s job, but his efforts have so far been futile, and he is set to reunite with Smith at relegation-threatened Leicester, according to The Sun.

He will work as an assistant coach to Smith alongside Craig Shakespeare, the former Leicester City manager who took over for Claudio Ranieri in 2019 after Lampard reportedly decided against bringing Terry in to form part of his own backroom team at Chelsea.

Lampard has been named interim manager until the end of the season after Todd Boehly fired Graham Potter after only six months in charge.

The club’s all-time goalscorer has brought back Ashley Cole, Joe Edwards, and Chris Jones as assistant coaches for his temporary stint, prompting some fans to call for iconic former captain Terry to return to the club and help Lampard steady the ship after a turbulent season at Stamford Bridge.

Others were outraged, with one fan openly opposing Terry’s return as a coach. But the 42-year-old responded on Twitter, calling the suggestion “nonsense.”

“Also unbelievable news for everyone at Chelsea to have Lamps back,” he said via his official Twitter account. “I know how this works, Frank has his team and if I went into a job I would have mine. I won’t have people talk nonsense.”

The former centre-back, who had been working in a part-time role with Chelsea’s academy, has revealed that he has all but given up on his dream of becoming a first-team manager and would only come out of managerial’retirement’ if his former club came calling.

That would imply he would have been eager to take the job before Lampard was appointed by Boehly to take charge until the end of the season, but his close friend has managerial experience with Derby and Everton in addition to his 18-month stint at Stamford Bridge, while Terry has yet to take a first-team manager job.

And it appears that his return to his boyhood club, where he spent 22 years after coming through the club’s academy, will have to wait once more as he embarks on a new challenge with Leicester, who are currently 19th in the Premier League.