Source: Daily_Mail
MARTIN SAMUEL: Time to face the facts, JT, it's your moment of truth
Manchester City have shown him the money, now John Terry has to show them the love. If it takes a transfer request to leave Chelsea, Terry must be prepared to make one. Otherwise, forget it.
For Terry, it is make your mind up time; for City, the moment of truth.
This week they will discover what motivates the England captain; for this to be the right move, it has to be about more than the cynics think.
George Graham had it right. Never buy a player who thinks he is taking a step down to join you, he would say. He will act as if he is doing you a favour by just being there.
Obviously, this is an easier policy to implement as manager of Arsenal than Manchester City. Mark Hughes, with employers in a hurry to join the elite, does not have that option if he wishes to make marquee signings.
City must offer big money to make up for their reduced status and the absence of Champions League football; but if money is the only appeal, they are better off with a lesser name and greater dedication.
They are learning, albeit slowly. The decision to kill the deal for Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona was a sensible one. The player had dithered all summer and was clearly waiting for a better offer. City were as patient as possible over Carlos Tevez, too. Had that saga dragged on a day longer, he should have been told where to go - and it wouldn't have been Chelsea because he seems to have been angling for that move since the season ended.
City are not in a position to issue ultimatums to players at elite clubs, so they have to tolerate being messed about. Not indefinitely, though. They cannot be taken for fools and there comes a time when a player must meet them halfway. For Terry, that time is fast approaching.
There is no harm in aiming high, but a fall will soon follow if players think they are doing the club a turn merely by being on the pay-roll. Money will be an initial attraction but, beyond that, there must be substance. Terry cannot expect to protect his image as a Chelsea stalwart and pick up City's pay packet. The time to play the field has passed. City are entitled to investment, too, but personal, not financial.
Graham built title-winning teams at Arsenal in 1989 and 1991 based on ambitious players from inferior clubs. Football has changed since then and a manager with aspirations can no longer do his shopping in the divisions below.
Yet Jose Mourinho won titles at Chelsea with key players from West Ham, Rennes, Marseille and PSV Eindhoven. Graham's philosophy held because Chelsea and the Premier League was a step up for all, even those who had won the Champions League with Porto. So it can be done. And, the transfers involving Robinho and Kaka aside, City have largely stuck within Graham's rules, too. Shay Given was stepping up when he arrived from Newcastle and even Gareth Barry could consider City a promotion from Aston Villa, who appear short of the investment required to break into the top four.
Yet when City look to attract players from Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea, the dynamic changes and they have to make sure the deal is happening for the right reasons, that their targets buy into a project, not just a pay cheque.
The transfer request is the litmus test for Terry. If he is not prepared to make such a commitment, City should be wary. In the circumstances, it is hardly too much to ask.
One of the more curious explanations for John Terry's disaffection with Chelsea is that when he turned up at the club for his meeting with Carlo Ancelotti, there was nobody to greet him. Is there somebody detailed to greet Terry at Chelsea every day? He has been going there since he was a teenager, so that must get pretty damn irritating.
I stayed at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo during the 2002 World Cup and every time the lift opened at the ground floor, any number of smiling young ladies would announce that this was the main lobby.
Actually, they didn't. The conflicts of the Japanese tongue and the English language meant they said: 'Men Robbie.'
Week one, it was charming. Week two, mildly irritating. By week three I could cheerfully have beaten them to death. On the daily greetings front, Chelsea's captain should be careful what he wishes for.
The Football Association is to approve a transfer fund management company that was given the thumbs-down by the Premier League. The Hero Fund, which already has access to £110million, will advance money based on transfer valuation. If the player is not sold profitably within three years, the fund will start charging interest on the loans.
This sounds very much like third party ownership by another name, hence the resistance from the Premier League. The FA, however, has shown no real interest in these issues, while the Football League does not even have any regulations in place to govern the practice, despite it being the subject of a £50m lawsuit.
What could possibly go wrong?
