New Aston Villa captain John Terry has explained that he chose to drop down to the Championship in order to avoid facing Chelsea next season.
The 36-year-old brought an end to his 22-year stint at Stamford Bridge in May and was offered the chance to stay in the Premier League with a big-salary move to Bournemouth.
Terry instead opted to drop down a tier, however, penning a one-year deal to join Steve Bruce at the Villans and help them in their fight to return to the top flight.
"First and foremost, when I ruled out playing in the Premier League – I didn't want to play against Chelsea, that didn't feel right at all – I had a couple of games of golf with the manager and we got talking," Terry told talkSPORT.
"Steve is someone I looked up to as a player from his Man United days, and someone I've respected and known throughout the years anyway – we've always had a good relationship. He didn't need to sell it to me at all, because it sells itself – the idea of working with him this season.
"My Chelsea career is behind me. I'm here and have got a new challenge ahead now. So even though I'll always have one eye on Chelsea – it will always be my club without a shadow of a doubt – I'm here and I've got an idea of how I want to see things this year.
"It's going to be tough because there are an awful lot of games throughout the season, but we have a big group of players who are more than capable of going up in this division. If we apply ourselves right, we have a decent chance."
Villa begin their Championship campaign at home to Bruce's former side Hull City on Saturday evening.
Neil Wilkes
