Chelsea captain John Terry has signed a new five-year contract with the Barclays Premier League club.

The England skipper put pen to paper today to end months of speculation over his future.

Terry had a little over two years to run on his previous contract, which is superseded by the new one, meaning he is now committed to the Stamford Bridge club until 2012.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon echoed Terry's delight that an agreement had been reached after months of wrangling.

"This is an important day for Chelsea," he said. "This was the right deal for us, and for John.

"As a club we are committed to try to keep our players together on long-term deals, and this was a natural progression from last season when other players also committed themselves for the long term.

"As captain, John is clearly a key player for Chelsea and also a great symbol of the club, so naturally we are very pleased this has been agreed."

After coming through the youth ranks at Stamford Bridge, Terry made his Blues debut against Aston Villa in October 1998, and he succeeded Marcel Desailly as captain ahead of the 2004-05 season.

He led Jose Mourinho's side to consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006 and his determined performances at the heart of the Chelsea defence prompted England manager Steve McClaren to name him skipper upon his appointment last summer.

In all, Terry, 26, has amassed 39 caps for England.