John Terry
John Terry saw the best and worst of Chelsea throughout his 717-game career for the west Londoners. Also a regular for England, the former central defender spent north of two decades in the capital, having joined the academy as a raring-to-go 14-year-old.
A five-time Premier League winner, Terry dedicated a large chunk of his career to Chelsea and left in the summer of 2017 to spend the final campaign of his illustrious career with fellow top flight outfit Aston Villa before hanging up his boots in 2018.
His time spent at Stamford Bridge spanned several teams with varying characteristics – and, as such, he played with an array of superstars. Named Terry’s ‘Team of 120’, the Barking-born legend narrowed his former teammates down into an ultimate XI.
Goalkeeper and Defenders
Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, Marcel Desailly, Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta
There’s no gold medal on offer for guessing who he opts for between the sticks: the imposing Petr Cech, who was stationed behind Terry on 390 different occasions between 2004 and 2015. On the 124-cap Czech Republic international, he said:
Cech dedicated just over 10 years of his career to the Blues and, in doing so, established himself as one of the greatest goalkeepers in Premier League history. In fact, his haul of 207 clean sheets remains a record to this day.
Struggling to choose between Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta, Terry went with the latter for his captaincy during the club’s unlikely Champions League triumph in the 2020/21 campaign. The Spaniard, 35, was the perfect professional.
Being a central defender himself, Terry knows what it takes to operate in the heart of the backline – and he claimed that he was in awe of Marcel Desailly during his childhood. “I idolised him and I got a snippet of what it was like to be the very best.”
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In order to prevent having to choose between Gary Cahill and Ricardo Carvalho, Terry picked Thiago Silva, who played 155 times for the Blues between 2020 and 2024 and helped the club lift the Champions League in his maiden campaign.
On the left, Terry unsurpisingly opted for his compatriot Ashley Cole and insisted that he was “arguably the best left-back in the world at that time.” – and in doing so, snubbed the likes of Wayne Bridge and Graeme Le Saux.
Midfielders
Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas
The man who had a role named after him, Claude Makelele – commonly admired as one of the greatest anchormen in football history – formed the base of Terry’s three-man midfield. For the west Londoners, the Frenchman played 217 times and plundered just eight goal contributions.
In those appearances, Makelele became one of the greatest defensive midfielders in the club’s history – and he screened in front of Terry and his entourage on 186 occasions. Chelsea royalty Frank Lampard, too, was chosen by the former defender.
“Lamps goes in instantly. I think Frank's our best-ever player. And again for longevity, goals, repetition year after year,” Terry continued before adding: “Lamps falls in that category. Hazard's our most talented-ever player, but in terms of what he achieved, Lamps goes right at the very top for me. He's in."
What can be said about Lampard that hasn’t already? A perfect box-crashing midfielder with the talent and technique to spray passes left, right and centre – he was truly the glue in Chelsea’s dark days and for that, he’s getting his props from Terry.
Frank Lampard (England), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), with Union Jack background
Compared to the majority of Terry’s picks, he and Cesc Fabregas seldom shared the pitch together – on just 83 times, but the Spanish magician was chosen by virtue of his unparalleled vision. “I had a short spell with Cesc, but in terms of his vision [there were few better].”
Waxing poetic about both Fabregas and Lampard, Terry said: “But with those two, Cesc and Lamps, even though I told them, they'd already seen it – or seen a better pass! They way their brains thought about football was excellent, so I'm not surprised to see them both doing really well in management.”
Attackers
Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba, Gianfranco Zola
Winger Eden Hazard enjoyed the best chunk of his career in the English capital with Chelsea. Joining as a youngster in 2012, the Belgium mesmerised fans year-on-year – and when deliberating who to put in the left-wing berth, Terry had no second thoughts, saying:
“Hazard goes straight in as, for me, being Chelsea's most talented player,” he said before listing his competition in Damien Duff and Arjen Robben. “But like with Cesc, who fell into the category of being the very best, Hazard is that so he has to go in for me."
Often compared to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Hazard may lack the goalscoring return, but he makes up for that with his ability to dance around the opposition as if they were waxwork models. He encapsulated everything joyous about the beautiful game.
Ryan Giggs, Eden Hazard and Sadio Mane
During his pomp, there were very few line-leaders as complete as the enigmatic Didier Drogba. Not only was he deadly in front of goal – as evidenced by his 164-strike haul for Chelsea – but his link-up play, brute strength and intelligent movement caused misery for defenders.
On Drogba, Terry said: “I said this recently actually, playing against Didier in training Monday to Friday meant going into games on a Saturday felt quite easy because I had been playing against such a high level. And every day he was at it, he was always at 100 per cent.”
Widely regarded as one of the best Premier League footballers of the 1990s, Gianfranco Zola was pratically unstoppable at his roaring best and his low centre of gravity made him a nuisance, albeit before the Blues' glory days. What's more, he took Terry under his wing. The former Chelsea skipper said:
All statistics per Transfermarkt - correct as of 22/03/2025