A lot was made of Frank Lampard’s retirement announcement earlier this month, and rightly so. The records broken by the Chelsea and England midfielder and the performances he put in whilst in a Chelsea shirt will go down in Blues folklore.

However, another side effect of the club legend’s decision to call it a day was that many fans turned their thoughts to a player almost in the same boat as Lampard, captain John Terry.

The imperious defender has, in the past couple of months, seen two of the leading players from his generation, in Lampard and Steven Gerrard, hang up their boots and will undoubtedly have been considering the path of his own career.

The former England international has made it very clear that he is keen to try his hand at coaching and management, and is currently studying to pick up his badges.

However, whilst he still plays an important role in the squad, manager Antonio Conte has made it quite blatantly clear that Terry is not in his first team plans. Whilst this is a shame, no Chelsea fan will criticise Conte for his decision, look where it has got them.

This season, though, may serve as a pointer to Terry that it is time to move on. No Stamford Bridge faithful will want to see the skipper step down, he is as big a part of the club as any other and it will, of course, be a sad day when he does retire.

A move away from the Bridge to prolong his playing days could be an option, however, with a clear plan into coaching beginning to form, he can still have a huge impact in west London.

Terry has often been praised for his remarkable leadership skills, but they go further than just putting an arm around a goal-shy striker or giving everyone a pat on the back on the pitch when they need it most.

The skipper keeps in constant communication with the Blues youngsters out on loan, and there are a lot of them, and keeps a very keen eye on the development of the youth prospects at Chelsea.

This passion for ushering through the next generation at Stamford Bridge can be infectious and is something the club should look to take every advantage of.

The last player to rise through the ranks and have a lasting impact on the first team at Chelsea was Terry himself, so, now that he is at the other end of the spectrum, who better to bring through the next version of himself?

A lucrative move to China, America or one of the bigger clubs within Europe would certainly be a tough one to turn down for Terry. However, in order to benefit the long-term future of the club, the Chelsea board need to be doing all they can to keep their captain at the club and into the coaching ranks.