West Ham boss Slaven Bilic not ruling out move for Chelsea’s John Terry

Chelsea captain Terry announced this week that he is leaving Stamford Bridge at the end of the season after 19 years, 713 appearances and 14 major honours.

Despite the centre-back being 36, there is likely to be a scramble for his signature and Bilic told a news conference: “We are going to see.

“I’m a big admirer of John, he is one of the best that ever played, not only in that position but in general.

“He won everything, he did everything and we are talking about an England captain, a true leader.

“We are pretty well covered in that position, we have quality and we have experience, but we will see. You never say never.”

Meanwhile, Bilic denied reports of a row with striker Diafra Sakho, who was missing from the squad that drew at Sunderland last weekend.

There was speculation that Sakho did not travel after refusing to be a substitute, but Bilic said: “He was injured.

“There was no row, I should know about that because it was me who spoke with him. He was injured.”

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce said the club are well stocked for central defenders when asked whether he would have a potential interest in signing Terry.

But with Mamadou Sakho set to return to Liverpool at the end of his loan spell that situation could change.

“I’ve got Scott Dann, James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho, Damien Delaney and Martin Kelly, so actually in central defence we’re looking pretty secure,” Allardyce said.

“I’m not sure if that’s going to be a position we’ll look at if and when we’re safe, and hopefully we are safe by the end of the season. But that position looks pretty healthy from the number of the players we have.

“I’m not so sure that John, yes, fantastic player that he is, yes he’d do us a great job, but with those amount of centre-halves at the club I can’t see that happening at the moment.”