Former England captain, John Terry, has said that he wants to put the recent past behind him and insists he is focused on success for this season.

The Chelsea captain was stripped of the top England job when it emerged that he had an affair with the girlfriend of a former teammate. The news exploded and there were even calls from many for Terry to be dropped from the side completely.

However, the centre back is still a very good player and the circus that has surrounded him seems to have made him more determined to funnel his energy into something else and in this instance it is football success.

Chelsea are still fighting on more than one front and Terry also is still going to the World Cup to play for his country. This is the most anticipated World Cup in recent memory and one of England’s best chances to win an international event.

He said: “I’m on a mission and nothing is going to distract me. I’m responding by doing what I’ve always done – by looking straight ahead. I’ve got broad shoulders and nobody’s going to knock me out of my stride.”

“I want to win the Champions League and Premier League for Chelsea and help win the World Cup for England. I’m not ashamed to say it, I wouldn’t be John Terry if I felt any differently.”

“Jose was an inspiration to us all at Stamford Bridge and I truly value his friendship. It’s going to be a sensational tie between two great teams but when I stick on the shirt tonight I’ll be focused on one thing only – playing and winning for Chelsea. It’s the way I play the game and the way I always will.”

“There’s a shirt on my wall at home – the shirt I wore when I missed that penalty against Manchester United in the Champions League final. It’s there as a daily reminder to me of what I’m striving for. I won’t rest until it’s replaced by a winner’s shirt – that’s my pledge to every Chelsea fan who has stood by me and still believes in me as a player and as their club’s captain.”

“If I’m fortunate to play for England in the World Cup – and playing for your country is the ultimate honour – I will take the same determination, drive and passion out on to the pitch in South Africa as I’ve always done. Absolutely nothing will change. I’ve already admitted that losing the captaincy hurt but that’s in the past and all I want to do now is move forward and carry on giving my best for England.”

Hopefully this brand new energy and enthusiasm from Terry will be healthy and will spread to the rest of his teammates and colleagues. It is a very big time for English football and if the people committing the mistakes can make up for it then it could also turn out to be very successful.

Dutch international defender Gregory van der Wiel is the latest young star to be linked with City in press around the world.

The 21-year-old 5 foot 6 right full-back became a regular in the Ajax side last term under coach Marco van Basten and also made his debut for the Dutch national side to boot.

He looks set to star at the next World Cup in South Africa and City have been following his progress for some time now.

With their defence still looking decidedly shaky, even after their multimillion dollar face lift, the Citizens of Manchester are scouring the transfer market to plug the wide open gaps in their defence.

Whether Mark Hughes will be the man to actually sign the Dutch youngster up is another matter though as a quarter final cup exit against Arsenal and a defeat against Chelsea on Sunday could see the Welsh supremo receive his marching orders.

According to his agent, Van der Weil is not fazed by the constant rumours linking him with Europe’s top clubs.

And although Hakim Slimani maintains Van Der Wiel has been watched closely by the Blues, he does state that matters stop there for now.

Slimani said: “There is no official contact between Ajax and Manchester City.

“But I cannot deny that his performance has been closely followed by Manchester City.”

Slimani insists Van Der Wiel is one hundred percent focused on seeing out his contract at Ajax Amsterdam which has three years left still to run.

“That’s why Greg is not concerned with a transfer to another club,” continued Slimani.

“He’s just broken through last season.

“This season he has set himself the target of being a major player for Ajax.”

Emile Heskey says that he may be forced to move from Aston Villa in order to keep his hopes of playing at the World Cup alive. Heskey has not been able to have a significant impact at Villa Park, due to his inconsistent starting place in the team.

Martin O’Neill brought him to Aston Villa with the aspirations of helping him find the form that he showed when he was a Liverpool regular and terrorising defences with Michael Owen.

Heskey has also been in and out of Fabio Capello’s England side and many have started saying that unless he bucks up his ideas very quickly then he will miss out on a chance to seal a place on the plan to South Africa.

He said: “I’m happy to be playing for England and, obviously, not playing at club level is difficult. It’s something I will have to look at when I get back and try to address it.”

“That’s what I mean. I will have to sit down and think about my next move. I don’t know whether I can get a World Cup place if I’m not playing for Villa. The manager [Capello] hasn’t really spoken to me about it. I just have to keep performing well in training and keep going. But you always wonder about those kind of things, whether it will affect my chances. I will just have to try to address it when the time is right.”

“I’m never going to give up. It’s just another hurdle I have to get over. I just have to try and keep my spirits up at Villa. I must keep going, keep training hard and then just try to address it. We will see what happens. But you would have to ask the manager [O'Neill] why I’m not playing.”

Heskey’s options are very simple. If he wants a move from Villa then he can submit a request in late December and make himself available for the January window. However. This is very risky.

If he lets it out that he wants to go before December then he could end up being shunned by all connected to Villa. If January comes and goes and no one wants him then Heskey is forced to stay at a club that he has stated he does not want to be at.

He must be praised for showing such ambition and want but he needs to step very carefully to cover his tracks.