Chelsea captain John Terry signed a new five-year contract at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, keeping him at the club until 2009, news reports said.
The 23-year-old Terry had more than three years left on his current contract.
The defender has been a key player for Chelsea this season. The Blues lead the Premier League, having conceded only three goals in 12 matches. They have also qualified for the second phase of the Champions League.
Terry starred for England at Euro 2004 in June in the absence of the suspended Rio Ferdinand.
Terry’s early career was marked by off-the-field incidents involving drunken behaviour.
He and former Chelsea teammate Jody Morris were charged with assaulting a nightclub bouncer outside a London club in January 2002. They were both cleared by a jury seven months later.
The two were also among four Chelsea players reprimanded and fined after engaging in drunken and disorderly behaviour at a hotel near Heathrow airport in September 2001.
The hotel was crowded with American travellers stranded by flight cancellations after the September 11 terrorist attacks. — Sapa-AP