Chelsea want inspirational captain John Terry to stay at the club "forever" according to new Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti.

England skipper Terry has been linked with a mega-money move to Chelsea's cash-rich Premier League rivals Manchester City.

But while City aspire to be one of England's leading clubs, Chelsea already are and Ancelotti, the former AC Milan boss, said he wanted centre-half Terry - who has spent all his senior career with the Blues - to stay in west London.

"John Terry is a symbol of this team," Ancelotti said at his first news conference as Chelsea manager on Monday.

"He will be captain next season: he said he wants to stay forever and we want to keep him for ever," the Italian added.

"Now there is a question of Man City, but for Terry (there is) no price.

"Terry will be at Chelsea forever.

"He said he wants to stay, there is no problem for him for us, the story continues - Chelsea and Terry.

"I like to have a captain like Terry, he is very close to (Paolo) Maldini for professionalism, for quality and he will be the best captain for Chelsea.

"I spoke with Terry a month ago when I came to the club and he said welcome. And after he went on holiday.

"I will speak with him because he is the captain and I want a good relationship with the captain."

But asked if Chelsea, who have reportedly turned down an initial bid from City, would offer Terry a new, improved contract, Ancelotti added: "His contract is not my problem. My problems are the technical ones, but financially we have a team with great knowledge to do this."

Terry is currently on holiday but reports in England suggest that he stayed in the same Dubai hotel as Man City manager Mark Hughes last week, which has increased speculation that he could leave Chelsea.

Deco and Carvalho 'Chelsea players' for now

Ancelotti was less emphatic about whether Deco and Ricardo Carvalho would stay at Stamford Bridge after they were both linked with moves to Inter Milan.

"Carvalho and Deco are Chelsea players," he said.

"If in the future a player wants to go they have to speak with the club and we take the right decision for the player and for us."

Meanwhile, Ancelotti said the English giants had signed Russian international winger Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow.

He confirmed the arrival of Zhirkov and former Manchester City forward Daniel Sturridge at Stamford Bridge by saying: "Zhirkov, Sturridge - these are Chelsea players."

Asked where he saw Zhirkov fitting into the team, Anceotti said: "Zhirkov is naturally on the left.

"I think he can do all the work and can play in defence and in between."

Other players may follow, with AC Milan's Italian midfield player Andrea Pirlo and Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato rumoured to be joining Ancelotti in England from his former club.

"I don't want to speak about the name of the (other) players. The club control the market. We have time now - it is a good situation for us so we can improve the team. Pirlo and Pato are Milan players," was all Ancelotti would say on the subject.

AFP

Vintage start to the Open Written in a castle with limited connectivity, Dan Nicholl talks up the Scottish experience.

Is the Tri-Nations needed? iafrica.com columnist Jon Harris is struggling to get excited about the 2009 Tri-Nations.

How to beat the 'bonk' With riders burning 10,000 calories per day, the right fuel is essential to avoid the 'bonk'.