John Terry holds the future of Chelsea – and Antonio Conte – in his hands. The Blues captain can choose to play kingmaker – or raise the place to the ground.

Even if that new deal doesn’t arrive, Terry’s attitude over the coming months will have a huge influence on how Chelsea emerge from their worst season of the Abramovich era.

Conte’s locked in. He’s agreed terms and it’s only the make-up of his backroom team which is delaying the announcement. With PSG having put paid to Chelsea’s last chance of silverware, plans to confirm Conte as next season’s manager are being brought forward.

And the first major decision on the Italian’s agenda will be whether he wants Terry around.

Intermediaries who worked with Conte when he was with Juventus tell Tribalfootball.com that the Italy coach would be happy working with the centre-half. But he will need to sit down with Terry and consider what expectations the 35 year-old has for next season.

Much has been made of Conte’s work with Paul Pogba and how the Frenchman developed under his guidance. But Conte’s run of three consecutive Scudetti was built on his management of experienced players. As good as Andrea Pirlo was with AC Milan, he was never appreciated like he was in the Bianconeri shirt under Conte. But that owed as much to the player accepting Conte’s game management as it did to the coach’s methods. There was genuine give-and-take between the pair.

It can be the same for Terry. But he will have to accept a different role at Chelsea if he is to be part of the Conte cycle.

This isn’t Chelsea 2012. And Conte isn’t Andre Villas-Boas. This group have already had their revolt – and fallen way, way short. The whispers. The leaks. The bib. The downing of tools. Yeah, it all contributed to forcing Roman Abramovich to swing the axe on Jose Mourinho. But there’s no Didier Drogba amongst this lot. No Frank Lampard, Petr Cech nor even Ramires. Unlike 2012, there’ll be no Champions League crown to celebrate at the end of this mess. Indeed, Chelsea will be lucky to scrape into the Europa League. They’re starting all over.

Conte wants to lay foundations from the back. And he wants Terry around to assist. But the club captain will be informed he can’t expect to play every game next season. How Terry takes such news will have a big say on how quickly Chelsea move on from this current slump.

Conte will arrive convinced Chelsea have two of the best young centre-halves in Europe on the books. In Italy, they love Kurt Zouma. He has fans inside the boardrooms of Fiorentina, Napoli and Juventus. Conte is no different. And in Germany, Max Eberl, the Borussia Monchengladbach GM, is becoming increasingly resigned to losing Andreas Christensen back to Chelsea just halfway through his two-year loan.

Conte wants Terry around. But the manager will make it clear: Terry will be there to help bring on Zouma and Christensen – not to block their progress. Those connected to Chelsea whom Conte is now tapping will champion the way Terry brought on Gary Cahill’s game after his arrival from Bolton Wanderers. Conte will ask Terry to do the same for Zouma and Christensen – but with qualification they are there to eventually take his place. A threat that Terry never saw with Cahill.

And this is why it’s genuine crossroads time for Terry.

For the moment, he’s absolutely hammering Chelsea in the PR battle over his new contract. There was actually no deal withdrawn nor word from the club that he wouldn’t be offered terms for next season. But Terry wanted to force their hand. A couple of weeks into every New Year, Terry has a call put into the club about where he stands regarding next season. Of course, this term, with Mourinho sacked and Guus Hiddink only committed until June, the club was in a state of flux. The guarantees Terry sought just couldn’t be met. Understandably. But Terry blew the lid the off the place by going public after that FA Cup win over MK Dons. Cue the fans backlash.

Terry really does hold all the cards. If he comes away from that first meeting with Conte unimpressed, he could make life very difficult for the new manager. Could the Italian survive if it was made known he pushed the club’s greatest out of Stamford Bridge?

And what if Terry did stay, but refused to accept being passed over for Zouma, Christensen and, possibly, Leonardo Bonucci? How could Chelsea shake off this season’s strife with their most influential player also their most destructive force?

Terry deserves his new deal. Indeed, with the dismantling of their senior leadership group, Chelsea actually need Terry to sign a new deal. But they also need a leader willing to step aside and allow the next generation room to breathe.

John Terry holds all the cards. In the most critical time he’s seen as a Chelsea player, will he put club ahead of himself?

Contributed by Chris Beattie of TribalFootball.com