Slaven Bilic heaps praise on John Terry ahead of Chelsea exit

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has not ruled out a move for Chelsea defender John Terry during the summer transfer window.

On Monday, Terry announced that he would be leaving Stamford Bridge at the end of the campaign, and that has already resulted in speculation over his next move.

The rivalry between the two clubs may lead to Terry shunning any possible move to the Hammers, but Bilic has insisted that he will "never say never" over an approach to sign the 36-year-old.

The 48-year-old is quoted by The Mirror as saying: "Every manager and club would think about him because there aren't many leaders like him, but then again, we have experience in that position. We have good players in that position so never say never but I don't think about that right now.

"When you are talking about leadership and characters on the pitch, you are talking about them - [Steven] Gerrard, [Frank] Lampard, [Rio] Ferdinand and Terry.

"John Terry is Mr Chelsea. He's done everything and he definitely has at least a couple of years left. Whether that will be at West Ham or in the US, I don't know. We don't think about that right now. I don't think this is the end of John Terry's career."

Terry has made just eight starts for Chelsea during the current campaign.