You have to hand it to John Terry because he has certainly seen off some threats in his 16 years as a professional at Chelsea.
Some, such as the France World Cup winner Marcel Desailly, William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho, were more serious than others.
Khalid Boulahrouz, Alex and Tal Ben Haim maybe not so much, but they were all brought in to the club under Terry’s watch.
Terry, in his 16th season as a professional footballer with Chelsea, remains. He is probably playing better than ever.
Little wonder, then, that he is agitating for news of another contract at Stamford Bridge. They are certainly making him sweat.
Marina Granovskaia, who is Roman Abramovich’s eyes and ears around the place, appears to have enjoyed the moment she told Terry that the club have a new policy in place.
Out of nowhere, it appears any one by the name of John Terry will only be offered one year contracts now that he is over 30 years of age.
He is panicking a bit, probably with good reason after putting himself in pole position to be Chelsea’s player of the year.
Perhaps Granovskaia, who is a member of the football club board at Chelsea, remembers the last time she was involved in negotiations with Terry back in July 2009.
More on that in a moment because the unsavoury slog through the media that summer put a few noses out of joint.
Back to where it all matters, though, and his performances on the pitch.
Football clubs will pretty much forgive anything - and there has been much to forgive in this case - so long as they perform out on the pitch.
Terry is not only the best central defender in Chelsea’s history, but he is also unrivalled in two decades of the Barclays Premier League. He is the best there has been.
It was only a couple of weeks ago when Terry’s 600th appearance in a Chelsea shirt was being commemorated before their Premier League clash with Manchester United.
‘An incredible achievement by a guy who has given everything for a club for many, many years and continues to do so,’ cooed his manager Jose Mourinho in his programme notes.
Terry, 33, has played in all 22 Premier League fixtures for Chelsea this season and he will captain the team against West Ham on Wednesday.
He has realigned his game, handing marking duties to his partner Gary Cahill and using his positioning, which has always been his best attribute, to dictate the game. He has been phenomenal.
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