• Premier League

John Terry could still be playing for Chelsea at 36

Jose Mourinho believes his captain John Terry can still be a crucial part of his Chelsea first team when he's 36 years old.

Terry, 34, has already been "guaranteed" a one-year contract extension for next season by his manager, which will take him past his 35th birthday in December.

The centre-back's current Stamford Bridge deal expires this summer, with his club only handing out 12-month deals to players over the age of 30.

Asked how long he expected Terry - who joined Chelsea 20 years ago as a schoolboy - to extend his stay at the club, Mourinho said: "I don't know. At this age it's very difficult to predict. But the fire is there, this contract will not be the last contract he signs.

"At Chelsea, we decided at a certain age. This was to stimulate the players, to provoke the players, to make them feel the past doesn't play a role and it's all about the present and tomorrow, they get one year of contract.

"If they don't accept they are not ready for the challenge, and we wouldn't want them. John accepted the first challenge last year, accepted this season already. That is a guarantee the fire is there.

"John is proving again this season that he's a player for years. Last season he was very good, this season I think even better."

Terry scored the opener in a man-of-the-match performance as Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-0 in Sunday's League Cup final at Wembley.

However, he admitted earlier this week that he is fighting for his family's future, and pledged never to play for another club when his time is up at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, Mourinho believes this season's Premier League title race is far from over, suggesting Chelsea's run of fixtures is far more difficult than it looks on paper.

"We are going to West Ham and to teams who desperately need points: Leicester, Hull, QPR, West Brom, Arsenal, fighting for top four," added Mourinho.

"West Ham is different. They don't need the points. I don't think they are going to play Champions League, but they are not going to have relegation problems. They have nothing to lose. They will play to try and win the game.

"West Ham are a good team. They can be everything: defensively very strong, very dangerous in attack, very dangerous playing direct football with long balls to target men, and also very dangerous attacking spaces and trying to play on the counterattack with fast people like [Diafra] Sakho and [Enner] Valencia.

"They have in their hands different ways of playing football and thinking about the game. With a very good coach like Sam [Allardyce] it's always difficult to play them."

John Terry lifted the League Cup after Chelsea defeated Tottenham at Wembley © Getty Images

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