John Terry has mocked Arsenal after Morgan Rogers completed a £117 million move to Chelsea, claiming the midfielder joined a club with a 'history' and 'potential' of winning the Champions League.
Rogers chooses Chelsea over Arsenal
Rogers had been identified as Arsenal's number one transfer target following an impressive season with Aston Villa, where he scored ten goals and provided six assists in the Premier League. The 23-year-old also played a key role in Villa ending their 30-year trophy drought, scoring and assisting Youri Tielemans as Unai Emery's side beat Freiburg to win the Europa League.
Despite Arsenal being in pole position, Chelsea outmanoeuvred them, and Rogers underwent a medical on Monday after returning from the World Cup. He was officially unveiled 24 hours later, becoming Chelsea's third summer signing after Marco Palestra and Geovany Quenda.
Terry's dig at Arsenal
In his first interview with Chelsea's media team, Rogers called his new club 'the biggest in London' and cited Xabi Alonso's presence as a key factor. The £117m fee surpasses the £107m Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez three years ago.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Terry said: 'The numbers are inflated, that's not the players issue for me.' He added: 'He's obviously joined a club that has the potential of winning the Champions League and has a history of winning the Champions League, hence he's gone for us over the red side of London, Piers.'
Terry continued: 'To be honest, if you're him, you'd have probably gone Arsenal so the numbers must have been pretty big. But I'm excited to have him, I think he's a good player.'
Terry on money vs trophies
When asked if players choose money over trophy ambitions, Terry replied: 'I was at Chelsea from the age of 14 so you end up falling in love with your football club. You have a rapport and a relationship like no other so I can't speak for 95 per cent of the players that are probably looking at this differently to the way I felt.'
'I never wanted to leave Chelsea. Saying that, we had an owner that had big and deep pockets, I was offered contracts that were the equivalent of other clubs around me and I was paid money that I probably wouldn't have got elsewhere.'
'It's a really unfair question to ask me without being too loyal, I love Chelsea and Chelsea is my club so for me, I don't get it. But if you don't have that relationship like I had, I can also understand it. Once you're finished, you're finished and you're out the game and these boys are very young when they do finish.'
Terry saddened by Cucurella exit
Terry also expressed disappointment at Marc Cucurella's departure to Real Madrid earlier this summer. 'When he got his move to Real Madrid I said this, I said I was really disappointed,' he said. 'I think about one-on-one defensively, we spoke about the battles he has with Bukayo Saka.'
'Everything I see as a Chelsea fan now, I see in him as a defender: aggressive, in people's faces, wanting to win, he cares. I see him around the training ground, he's a winner and we've lost a World Cup winner.'
Terry added that Jose Mourinho will 'love' Cucurella at Madrid. 'He's an incredible player, a really good person. Jose Mourinho is going to love him at Real Madrid. He's right up his street.'
