John Terry Speaks Out on Enzo Maresca Exit After Being Bombarded With Phone Calls

John Terry was in "complete shock" as he addressed Chelsea's decision to part ways with Enzo Maresca.

On Thursday morning, just three weeks after being named Premier League Manager of the Month, Maresca said goodbye to the Chelsea squad following a poor run of form, as well as a reported deterioration in his relationship with the club's hierarchy.

Chelsea confirmed their decision to part company with Maresca in a statement that pointed out their Conference League and Club World Cup successes under his leadership, which also featured a fourth-place Premier League finish last season.

However, the club addressed the club's disappointing run of results as they sit in fifth, 15 points behind league leaders Arsenal.

"With key objectives still to play for across four competitions including qualification for Champions League football, Enzo and the Club believe a change gives the team the best chance of getting the season back on track," the statement added.

The news came as a surprise to many, including Chelsea legend John Terry, who was inundated with phone calls before taking to social media to address the situation.

"Enzo Maresca has just been sacked by Chelsea and to be honest I’m completely shocked, I didn’t see it coming," said Terry on his official TikTok account. "I know things of late haven’t been how he would like. You can see and hear that there’s been tension.

"I’ve had so many phone calls this morning after the news and everyone expects me to know what’s happening. I haven’t got a clue what’s happening. I’m not involved in the first team so I don’t know.

"Just my opinion from afar, there’s clearly been tension between the manager and the owner and they’ve come to this decision.

"It’s a big shock because rewind three or four weeks ago and we were playing so well against Barcelona. It was so good and fast forward four weeks and form and performances clearly haven’t been good enough.

"I think the squad, the manager is inexperienced himself. It was his first full-time job in the top-flight and he has said how he’s still learning and how he’s got some things wrong at times.

"But I will say there’s always two sides to the story and there’s certainly things behind the scenes that I don’t know about. I just hear rumblings like everyone else does."

Terry added: "I’m disappointed with the news but there’s still loads to play for this season, Champions League, Premier League and Carabao Cup, so whoever comes in has a lot to play for."

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Instead of appointing an interim until the end of the season, Chelsea will work quickly to appoint a permanent replacement for Maresca from a shortlist of candidates, according to The Telegraph.

Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior is said to be one of the leading candidates.