Chelsea Transfer News: Latest Rumours on John Terry and Andreas Christensen

John Terry's Chelsea career is reportedly set to come to an end at the close of 2016-17, with Blues manager Antonio Conte planning to "phase [him] out of his squad during the next two transfer windows."

According to Sami Mokbel and Simon Jones in the Daily Mail, the Italian manager wants to add more depth to his defence in January and then next summer, which will likely finally see Terry, 35, forced to move elsewhere or retire. 

The Stamford Bridge legend only has a contract to the end of this season, but it was previously reported by Bleacher Report's Dean Jones that he felt he could earn another extension:

A combination of his recent injuries, Chelsea's defensive excellence without him and Conte's planned additions—he is interested in Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci and AS Roma’s Antonio Rudiger—signal that Terry's Chelsea career is now near its end, though, per Mokbel and Jones.

The former England international started the season in Conte's first team but has played a limited role as Chelsea have won their last seven matches, conceding just one goal, to move top of the Premier League table—his last league start was in September.

The Chelsea manager has switched to a 3-4-3 system that includes a back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and David Luiz.

Despite the formation working well at the moment, Conte is still eager to add more strength to his back line, as the cover he has available is not the best.

Per Mokbel and Jones, as well as buying in further depth, Andreas Christensen—currently on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach—will return to Chelsea in the summer, and along with Kurt Zouma, he is seen as a long-term replacement for Terry.

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Per Alan Nixon in the Sun, there had previously been reports that Denmark international Christensen, 20, could be a target for Barcelona after impressing with Gladbach.

But it now seems he will become a part of the Blues' first-team setup when he returns from the Bundesliga.

Terry's Chelsea days seem effectively over. He cannot get into the first team and could be further down the pecking order behind Zouma, Christensen and a new signing by the start of next term.

It now seems clear that he will not be offered a new contract and will leave the club as a free agent at the end of the 2016-17 season, following just under two decades as part of the senior side at Chelsea.

Per Mokbel and Jones, he will have options to continue his career elsewhere, with Shanghai Shenhua interested in signing him, along with clubs in Turkey, the United States and the Middle East.

There is no chance he will leave in January, though, as Terry is "determined to see out the season at Stamford Bridge and hopes to win a fifth Premier League title."