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Gary Cahill has welcomed John Terry's contract extension as a "great boost" for Chelsea players and fans. Terry's long association with the west London club had looked to be coming to an end, 17-and-a-half years after he made the first of his 703 appearances. At the start of the year, the centre-back said he would not be staying past the end of his contract in the summer, but Chelsea said an offer may be forthcoming and it arrived this week. Terry put pen to paper on his new deal on Wednesday, ending months of speculation. "It's important," Cahill said of his fellow defender. "All the lads are very happy, I am sure the fans are very happy, so it is a great end to the season in that respect. "It is a great boost, a great boost for the club, it's a great lift for the players and obviously the fans. "Although it kind of dragged on for a little while, it has been sorted now and we look forward to him being part of this squad like he has been for many, many years. It is fantastic news for us." That news, and a new era at Stamford Bridge under Antonio Conte, is at the back of Cahill's mind for now as preparations for Euro 2016 step up. With England captain Wayne Rooney unavailable due to playing in Saturday's FA Cup final, the 41-cap defender will lead his country out for the second time when Turkey visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. It is one of three matches that Roy Hodgson has in which to experiment with personnel and partnerships before Euro 2016, although the 26-man squad has to be trimmed to 23 by the end of the month. "It is certainly a very good squad," Cahill told BBC Radio 5 live. "It is an exciting squad. "We feel like we've progressed so, for me, it's a very good squad and as an England player and fan an exciting squad." Cahill is all but assured of a place in the squad given that Hodgson has, perhaps surprisingly, only selected three out-and-out centre-backs. The 30-year-old was quick to point out that defensive midfielder Eric Dier can drop back to join John Stones, Chris Smalling and himself and said: "There's three centre-halves there and Eric can fill in in that role. "Do you look at it as three centre-halves or do you look at it as four? There's the option there for the manager, and ultimately he has decided to go that way. "I don't see that being a big deal whatsoever -- I see that as being perfectly fine."
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