Manchester City are considering whether to return to Chelsea with an improved bid for John Terry after failing with an offer described as being between £25m and £30m for the England captain last night.

The official offer was faxed to Stamford Bridge after several months of planning in which City have been strongly led to believe that, despite all his claims to the contrary, Terry is intrigued by what is happening at Eastlands and would like, at the very least, to speak to the club's billionaire owners in Abu Dhabi.