Jose Mourinho has told John Terry he will earn a new contract with Chelsea if he maintains his current form.
Terry scored his first goal of the season on Saturday to snatch a point for Chelsea in a hot-tempered London derby against Tottenham which pitted Mourinho against his old protege Andre Villas-Boas.
Terry struggled to gain a regular place in the Chelsea side under Rafa Benitez last year, but the 32 year old has played every minute of the Blues’ Premier League campaign so far this term.
Chelsea left it until the end of last season before renewing Frank Lampard’s contract, but Mourinho insists Terry need not worry about his future at the west London club.
“I think he always has a future the way he is playing – he has a future in here [at Chelsea], in China, or wherever he wants to have a future,” the Chelsea manager said with a smile.
“I have always told him from day one – don’t speak [publicly] about signing a new contract, just speak about working very hard from a physical point of view so you don’t have the same kind of problems you have had in the past two years and then you play regularly.
“He is a very good player and very good players have no problems with their contracts.”
Terry cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson’s opener with a well-taken header from Juan Mata’s free-kick.
The goal was a particularly enjoyable one for Terry, who was on the receiving end of abuse from Tottenham supporters throughout.
“I am absolutely delighted. I took a bit of stick here over the last few years so that’s for the fans who have supported me over the years,” Terry told Chelsea TV.
Roberto Soldado, the Tottenham striker, had a relatively quiet game thanks to Terry and the former England captain offered a calming presence in the face of some pacy attacks from the home side.
Terry played a huge part in Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea, and the Blues boss believes his captain’s confidence is now back to its best.
“I think the fact that he knows that I like him has been important,” Mourinho added.
“I trust the player. This is important. In his head he knows if I leave him out I am trying to do the best thing for him and the best thing for the team so he is not under this pressure he was in other years.
“Physically we are working very well with him. I think he is in good condition and he is a brilliant boy.”
Fernando Torres will miss Chelsea’s game against Norwich next Sunday following his sending-off for two bookings.
The second, which came after he clashed with Jan Vertonghen in the air, was harsh, but the Spaniard could have been given a straight red in the first period for scratching the Belgian defender’s face.
Despite the dismissal, Torres had a fairly good game, putting in a full-blooded display against a Tottenham defence holding the joint-best defensive record in the league.
Mourinho thinks the 29 year old is a much-improved player from the one who flopped so spectacularly in the immediate aftermath of his move from Liverpool.
“On television I used to watch matches of Fernando at Chelsea and it looked to me that he was a bit heavy, a little slow,” Mourinho said.
“Now he looks in fantastic shape. And I think he played a very good game against Spurs.
“He knows that I am very happy with his performance.”
Chelsea’s three strikers are yet to score a league goal this season, but Lampard is not concerned.
“Goals will come for the strikers, you have phases like that,” the Chelsea midfielder said.
“Strikers can’t always be firing goals in but they might have a patch now where they go and score 20 goals between them in the next 10 games.
“It’s an old adage but you don’t care who scores if you win games. The way Fernando played at Spurs with his presence, he will score goals and create goals for others.”
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