John Terry to leave Chelsea at the end of the season as he will continue playing career elsewhere

Terry has made 713 appearances since rising through the Chelsea academy

John Terry will leave Chelsea at the end of the 2016/17 season (Getty)

John Terry will leave Chelsea at the end of the season, the player and club have confirmed in a joint-statement.

The 36-year-old will bring the curtain down on his 22-year Chelsea career with the club currently on course for what would be his fifth Premier League title, with the Blues four points clear at the top of the table.

He did not confirm what he will do after leaving Chelsea, adding that he “will decide on my future in due course”, but did add that he will look to prolong his playing career with “a new challenge”.

A statement issued on the club’s website on Monday afternoon read: “John Terry and Chelsea Football Club today jointly announce our captain will leave the club at the end of the season.

“Everybody at Stamford Bridge would like to express our enormous gratitude to John and wish him the very best of luck for the future.”

The statement also added that both Chelsea and Terry are open to his return to Stamford Bridge in the future in a non-playing role, opening the door to the prospect of the club legend managing the side somewhere down the line, though that will not be an immediate move with Terry eager to continue playing into next season.

Terry will end his Chelsea career with at least 14 major trophies to his name, having won the Premier League four times, five FA Cups, three League Cups, the Europa League and the famous Champions League success of 2012, and he could yet add another two to that list with Chelsea leading the Premier League and taking on Tottenham in this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals.

After making his England debut in June 2003 against Serbia and Montenegro, Terry was named England captain by Steve McClaren in August 2006, succeeding David Beckham, and he went on to make 78 appearances for his country, scoring six times.

Terry was stripped of the England captaincy by McClaren’s successor, Fabio Capello, in February 2010, before being reappointed as the national team skipper a year later after Rio Ferdinand suffered a long-term injury.

Terry has won the Premier League title four times with Chelsea (Getty)

He would be stripped of the captaincy a second time in February 2012 after being accused of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, though this time it was by the Football Association rather than Capello and led to the Italian’s resignation as manager, though he would continue to play for England until the end of the 2012 European Championship before announcing his international retirement in September 2012.

Terry took to Instagram shortly after the announcement was made, posting a picture of himself walking out at Stamford Bridge along with the simple caption of a heart and the Chelsea Twitter handle.

The club also paid tribute to Terry, with club director Marina Granovskaia praising the defender as “an outstanding player, inspirational captain and has always demonstrated his exceptional commitment to the cause”.

Granovskaia added: “Everyone at Chelsea would like to place on record our thanks to John for all he has done for this football club.

Terry was part of the Champions League-winning side of 2011/12 (Getty)

“In that time, Chelsea has grown into one of the world’s top clubs and it is only right that John’s contribution is recognised. He will always be held in the highest regard by everybody at Stamford Bridge and we look forward to welcoming him back in the future.”