Former Chelsea star Terry Venables admits he's surprised John Terry hasn't gone public to reject Manchester City's offer.

"Manchester City want someone who is tough, a leader," said Venables, speaking on behalf of The Wembley Cup.

"The more leaders you can have in a team the better because they'll always be doing and saying the right thing.

"It would be amazing for City to sign Terry. If you'd asked me a couple of months ago I would have said it's impossible.

"I'm still not sure but he's certainly not saying no, which has surprised me. Chelsea are not saying anything at the moment either. Before I could just never see him leaving Chelsea. It depends if it's a football decision or whether it's right for Chelsea as a club.

"The money is difficult to resist. Everyone goes to work to earn money and it's an incredible amount of money.

"The most important thing is to get it done quickly. If it's going to happen, do it so both teams can get on and prepare. If it drags on it will affect both teams."

Venables admits the departure of Terry, an academy product dubbed 'Mr Chelsea', would expose the club to criticism should they make a poor start to next season.

"It's about who you replace John with. If he and Ricardo Carvalho go that will leave a big hole," he said. "If the team keeps winning then everything is OK. But if you lose then people will say 'it's because we don't have Terry', even if that's not necessarily the reason.

"Chelsea might yet sign someone who makes everyone take notice, but I don't know who it could be because John's boots are hard to fill."