LONDON. – For many in football, the 2016-17 season has simply been the start of their English Premier League story.
That’s the case for Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, who could become only the third manager in history to win the double in his first season in England’s top flight, after Kenny Dalglish in 1986 and Carlo Ancelotti in 2010.
Young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (23) had a good first full year too. He made the most of his extended run in the Sunderland team and was named in the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. A bright future awaits.
But for others, this season is the end of the line. Some of the greatest names in English Premier League history are set to leave the clubs where they made their name. John Terry’s 19-year association with Chelsea will end with the 36-year-old centre-back leaving Stamford Bridge to pursue a new challenge.
Whether that will be as a player, a manager or outside the game remains to be seen, but Chelsea will feel a very different place in his absence. Terry is a divisive figure, but his contribution to the Blues’ success on the pitch is beyond doubt.
He leaves with an enviable haul of five English Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, three League Cups, one Champions League and one Europa League.
Time must surely be up for Wayne Rooney at Manchester United too. It has been many months (years?) since he consistently demonstrated the form that made him one of Europe’s hottest talents, but in recent weeks he has looked every one of his 31 years, plus a few more.
Manager Jose Mourinho might not have played him had the injury crisis at the club not been so severe, but the Englishman’s continued exposure to first team football only strengthens the argument he is finished at this level of the game. United’s concern is that his reported £300 000-per-week contract still has a year to run and that Rooney, quite legitimately, may opt to dig his heels in and “fight for his place” on the sort of wages no-one else could afford to match.
Fixtures (all 4pm)
Tomorrow: Arsenal v Everton; Burnley v West Ham United; Chelsea v Sunderland; Hull City v Tottenham Hotspur; Leicester City v Bournemouth; Liverpool v Middlesbrough; Manchester United v Crystal Palace; Southampton v Stoke City; Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion; Watford v Manchester City. – ESPN.