John Terry has returned to Chelsea to take up an academy coaching consultancy role, the club have confirmed.

Terry began his professional career at Chelsea way back in 1998 and went on to establish himself among the greatest players to ever grace the Stamford Bridge turf.

He left at the end of his final contract in 2017 and retired a year later after a brief spell at Aston Villa, but has now retraced his steps as he continues to earn his stripes as a coach.

Terry, who had been out of work since leaving his assistant coach post at Villa in the summer, will begin his part-time consultancy role at Chelsea next month.

The 41-year-old has been spending a lot of time around the club’s Cobham training centre in recent months and will now contribute to the growth of their youth development programme.

Terry reacted by posting a trio of blue heart emojis on Twitter. Later, he posted a photo of him holding EPL trophy, saying: 

“I’m delighted to announce that I’m coming home, and have taken up a consultancy role @ChelseaFC academy. As well as delivering on field coaching sessions I will be involved in coaching discussions and mentoring our academy players.”

Terry made 713 appearances for Chelsea during his 19-year stay at Stamford Bridge, which puts him third in the club’s all-time list behind Ron Harris and Peter Bonetti.

The former defender also managed to score 67 goals and provide 29 assists while becoming the most successful captain in the Blues’ entire history.

Terry won 17 trophies in total with Chelsea, including five Premier League titles, one Champions League and five FA Cups.