John Terry has vowed to protect Chelsea's "history and heritage" after confirming he has joined the True Blues Consortium. On the last day of Chelsea's own takeover deadline day, the big news aside from the offers being submitted in different forms came with the 41-year-old's decision to make his own move for the club but in a different way.
It was revealed by football.london that it would be down to the new owners instead of the government to give the supporters this so-called 'golden share' with Boris Johnson and co planning on not getting too heavily involved in the takeover process. There has been no explicit emphasis on any new owner (with the exception of Nick Candy) to have the fans at the heart of their pitch to follow on Abramovich's work.
However, Terry and former Chelsea women's player Claire Rafferty are aiming to do something that will ensure that regardless of the new ownership structure, fans will play a big part in future decision making and day to day running of certain operations within the club. As revealed by GOAL, the duo are fronting up a £250million consortium called True Blue in an attempt to buy a 10% stake in the club.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson and Government sent message by fans ahead of Middlesbrough vs Chelsea in FA Cup
The report goes on to add that the pair are doing this because they won't be able to fund a full bid, so must instead become involved in a wider deal. If the new consortium set up for the fans' benefit was to be successful, it would cost around £100 to buy a stake. The legendary centre-half is also looking to offer the players and staff around the club NFT tokens if True Blue were to be successful in purchasing their 10% share.
Now that the news is out there, Terry, who was spotted at the Cheltenham Festival amid these reports surfacing, has broken his silence to confirm the news and inform the Chelsea faithful about what his intentions are with this bid. He stated on Twitter: "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. Having met with and heard what the True Blues Consortium is about, I know they understand.
"They’re a group of lifelong Chelsea fans and season ticket holders who have created a concept that will complement and assist any preferred bidder running the club while adding fan connection and engagement with the board. This innovative structure is designed to be inclusive of all Chelsea fans and protect our club.
"I’m thankful for the Chelsea Pitch Owners and Chelsea Supporters’ Trust’s time and support on this and we hope we will be welcome investors into the club’s new structure."
