OPINION
Tony Xia’s number one priority as Aston Villa owner this summer is now clear.
As reported by the Mirror, veteran defender John Terry has decided that he wants to continue as a player for one more season before he hangs up his boots for good.
The newspaper claim that Terry would be happy to remain at Villa Park for one more year, and Bruce is now well aware of his plans to play for one more year.
The Mirror report that Villa will have to come up with an enticing deal for the 37-year-old to stay, and his future looks dependent on whether the club achieve promotion back to the Premier League.
If Villa fail to do so, Terry would have to take a big pay cut to stay at the club. If they do get promoted however, then he is in line for a big bonus and would be more likely to stay.
Whatever happens, Steve Bruce and Xia must try as hard as they can to get Terry to stay at the club.
Aside from his consummate performances on the pitch for Villa, Terry has quite obviously had a massive impact off the field in Birmingham.
He has added a winning mentality to the Villa dressing room, and is widely said to have taken wayward midfielder Jack Grealish under his wing to help him reach his vast potential.
Things like that are invaluable to a club like Villa, who need off-field influences like Terry if they want to re-cement their place at the top of the English game.
It is because of this that Xia must pull out all the stops to convince Terry to remain at the club for another season.