CHELSEA captain John Terry dropped a bombshell Sunday by announcing he will leave at the end of the season after the club decided not to renew his contract.

    “I was in (for talks) last week before the Arsenal game and it is not going to be extended,” Terry, 35, told reporters after his side’s 5-1 win at second-tier Milton Keynes Dons in the FA Cup fourth round. “It’s not going to be a fairy tale ending. I’m not going to retire at Chelsea.”

    Terry has made 696 appearances for Chelsea and is the club’s most successful captain, having won four Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, the 2012 Champions League and the 2013 Europa League.

    He was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Team of the Season after leading Chelsea to last season’s league title, but his performances this campaign have not been to the same standard, mirroring the London club’s slide down the league standings.

    He could now follow former England teammates David Beckham and Steven Gerrard moving to the United States.

    But the center-back, who signed a one-year contract extension last season, wants to go out in style by lifting the FA Cup for a sixth time and helping Chelsea climb the league table from 14th place.

    A brave, no-nonsense center-back in the finest English traditions, Terry is an iconic figure at Stamford Bridge, where a banner proclaims him: “CAPTAIN. LEADER. LEGEND.”

    But his 78-cap England career ended in September 2012 when he retired from international football after the Football Association charged him with racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, brother of his England teammate Rio Ferdinand.  (SD-Agencies)