Poor guy, seems Madrid are after Drenthe as well, poor Chavs 
Terry's broken toe worries both Chelsea and England
By Jason Burt and Sam Wallace in Los Angeles
Published: 19 July 2007
John Terry will be an injury concern for Chelsea and England this season after he broke a toe in his right foot in his club's pre-season friendly against South Korean side Suwon Bluewings on Tuesday night. The England captain is hopeful that the break is not so severe that it will rule him out of a major part of the season, with the crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers in the autumn.
The break is not thought to be on the same scale as the metatarsal injuries that have affected the likes of Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and David Beckham over the last few years. Terry missed almost four months of last season after having keyhole surgery on a sequestrated disc in his back which left Chelsea desperately short of central defenders in the second half of the campaign.
The early diagnosis on the 26-year-old is that he might yet play against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday for David Beckham's debut. Nevertheless, the news will not be welcome for Steve McClaren, the England manager, who already has one less centre-half to choose from after Jamie Carragher's retirement from international football this month.
In the meantime, Terry said that Chelsea, who won 1-0 at the Home Depot Center in Carson with a goal from Didier Drogba, were undaunted by the money that Manchester United have spent on transfers. "I am not too worried about Manchester United spending so much money," he said. "They have bought very well and they were very good last year. The two years previous to that we went out bought everyone and we still have those players on board. Maybe things have levelled out so next season will be very interesting.
"Regaining the title is the sign of a good team and it will be exciting for us to do that," Terry added. "It didn't feel the same last season at the end saluting our fans without the Premiership trophy."
Terry said that he hoped his new contract would be resolved soon after negotiations for the deal have slowed. He added that the club were more stable than last season when the feud between the owner Roman Abramovich and the manager Jose Mourinho had a destabilising effect behind the scenes.
"Numerous things dragged on last season and thankfully they have all been cleared up now and we are all moving in the same direction," he said. "I feel that unity of purpose has returned. I don't think we lost it completely but there was a lot of talk off the field and it doesn't help when it drags on for so long.
"If it's in the papers for two or three days you can deal with it, but when it goes on for months there is a lot of uncertainty and you get fans in the street asking you about it. It doesn't create a good feeling among the lads. Now we feel like the slate has been wiped clean and we start again."
Sources close to Arjen Robben continued to insist yesterday that the 23-year-old Dutch winger will be joining Real Madrid within the next few days. A fee is yet to be agreed with Chelsea but the two clubs are now not thought to be too far apart in their valuations, with Real prepared to pay €21m (£14.2m) having already agreed personal terms with Robben.
There was a scare for Chelsea yesterday, however, with Real sending a fax to Feyenoord indicating they would match the €10m (£6.76m) offer the Premiership club have made for Royston Drenthe. Chelsea believed they had stolen a march on their rivals to sign the 20-year-old left-sided player.
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