He's too important to us. We're very confident he will be leading us forward in the years to come,' he added.

City have had two bids rejected for the 28-year-old over the past six months and are expected to lodge an improved third offer.

Terry's team-mates expect him to remain at the club despite City's willingness to double his 135,000 pounds-a-week salary with a five-year contract.

'He's a big part of Chelsea and he's played here for a long time. It's football, anything can happen, but at the moment everyone is hopeful that he will stay. I don't want to talk too much about our conversation, but I think he will be playing for Chelsea (next season). Everything else is speculation,' said Michael Ballack.