English football legend John Terry immediately had to get in contact with pundit Jamie O’Hara to tear into his ‘ridiculous’ claim about Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He made his strong feelings clear as he left a voice note for Gabby Agonlahor.
The two London clubs will go head-to-head in the Premier League this weekend, with Spurs hosting what should be a fascinating game. Despite both teams missing a number of key players through injury, each set of fans will be desperate to win and secure bragging rights over their local rivals.
Former Spurs player O’Hara has looked to stoke any animosity between the clubs already, having made an extremely bold claim this week. Indeed, the TalkSport host suggested that Tottenham are a bigger club globally than Chelsea.
O’Hara: ‘Tottenham are a bigger club globally than Chelsea’
O’Hara could be heard speaking dismissively of the Stamford Bridge club’s standing in the game. The pundit suggested that their modern relevance only exists thanks to Roman Abramovich, noting: “What are Chelsea? Do you know what I mean? They’re big because of Roman Abramovich, aren’t they?
“Fair play to them, they spent loads of money, they bought the league a couple of times, but their big game is Tottenham. We don’t even care about that.”
He then went on to claim that Chelsea are behind both Arsenal and Spurs when it comes to international reputation. He explained:
“Spurs globally are bigger than Chelsea, they are. We’ve got a rich history.
“Arsenal, for me, and I hate to say it, but Arsenal are probably the biggest club in London. Internationally, Arsenal, with the history they’ve got, with the Premier League era.
“Chelsea, they’re big because of Roman Abramovich. They’re big because they brought big players in and they’ve become a big club. Tottenham, globally, are a bigger club than Chelsea.”
Terry Slams O’Hara Over Chelsea Claim
Former Chelsea captain Terry was evidently listening to the show and felt immediately compelled to get in contact with O’Hara after hearing the bold claim. Indeed, the retired centre-back sent a voice note to Agbonlahor in the studio, which said:
“What on earth is he on about this morning, O’Hara?
“Even using those two words together, Spurs and globally, should never be in the same sentence ever, ever again. Mate, they’re still doing their pre-season tours around North London. Absolutely ridiculous.
“Also, I’ve been invited to the game by Tottenham at the weekend. So it’s a 5.30 kick-off. They’ve asked me to get there at 5.29 and they said they’ll take me round the trophy cabinet and they’ll have me in my seat by kick-off. That’s how miles off it they are, mate.”
Despite being torn to shreds by Terry, O’Hara – who took it in good spirits – couldn’t help but get the last word in. He shot back: “Listen, JT, he played in the era when they were big, had Roman Abramovich, and he was unbelievable.
“But before then, they were nowhere near as big as Tottenham, they weren’t. They had Roman Abramovich, they had John Terry….” Agbonlahor then interjected to list other former Chelsea players from before Roman Abramovich’s takeover, such as Dennis Wise, Mark Hughes, and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, but O’Hara dismissed it, saying: “Do me a favour.”
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