Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes his captain John Terry has the staying power to remain as a crucial part of his first team for many years, after confirming he would be given a one-year contract extension ahead of next season.
Terry's current Stamford Bridge deal expires this summer and Mourinho moved to end speculation over his skipper's future by confirming a new deal will be offered to the 34-year-old in the coming weeks. He expanded on that position when he was later quizzed by UK newspaper reporters ahead of Chelsea's Wednesday match vs. West Ham.
After toasting his latest trophy in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday, Mourinho was asked how long he expected Terry to extend his remarkable story as Chelsea skipper.
"I don't know. At this age it's very difficult to predict," said Mourinho. "But the fire is there, this contract will not be the last contract he signs.
"At Chelsea, we decided at a certain age. This was to stimulate the players, to provoke the players, to make them feel the past doesn't play a role and it's all about the present and tomorrow, they get one year of contract.
"If they don't accept they are not ready for the challenge, and we wouldn't want them. John accepted the first challenge last year, accepted this season already. That is a guarantee the fire is there.
"John is proving again this season that he's a player for years. Last season he was very good, this season I think even better."
Mourinho went on to suggest this season's Premier League title race is far from over, suggesting the run of fixtures on Chelsea's agenda against sides who have much to play for makes their task more difficult.
"We are going to West Ham and to teams who desperately need points: Leicester, Hull, QPR, West Brom, Arsenal, fighting for top four," added Mourinho.
"West Ham is different. They don't need the points. I don't think they are going to play Champions League, but they are not going to have relegation problems. They have nothing to lose. They will play to try and win the game.
"West Ham are a good team. They can be everything: defensively very strong, very dangerous in attack, very dangerous playing direct football with long balls to target men, and also very dangerous attacking spaces and trying to play on the counterattack with fast people like [Diafra] Sakho and [Enner] Valencia.
"They have in their hands different ways of playing football and thinking about the game. With a very good coach like Sam [Allardyce] it's always difficult to play them."