City have already had one £30million bid for Terry rejected but manager Mark Hughes has publicly declared his interest in taking Chelsea's captain to Eastlands.

The 28-year-old is reported to have been offered £200,000 per week by City and former England coach Venables understands the lure of such enormous wages.

"Manchester City want someone who is tough, a leader," said Venables, speaking on behalf of The Wembley Cup.

"The more leaders you can have in a team the better because they'll always be doing and saying the right thing.

"It would be amazing for City to sign Terry. If you'd asked me a couple of months ago I would have said it's impossible.

"I'm still not sure but he's certainly not saying no, which has surprised me. Chelsea are not saying anything at the moment either.

"Before I could just never see him leaving Chelsea. It depends if it's a football decision or whether it's right for Chelsea as a club.

"The money is difficult to resist. Everyone goes to work to earn money and it's an incredible amount of money.

"The most important thing is to get it done quickly. If it's going to happen, do it so both teams can get on and prepare. If it drags on it will affect both teams."

Venables admits the departure of Terry, an academy product dubbed 'Mr Chelsea', would expose the club to criticism should they make a poor start to next season.

"It's about who you replace John with. If he and Ricardo Carvalho go that will leave a big hole," he said.

"If the team keeps winning then everything is OK. But if you lose then people will say 'it's because we don't have Terry', even if that's not necessarily the reason.

"Chelsea might yet sign someone who makes everyone take notice, but I don't know who it could be because John's boots are hard to fill."

Carlos Tevez has already signed for City this week and Emmanuel Adebayor is expected to join him.

But while a highly-impressive strike force is being assembled at Eastlands, Venables believes it is the defence that is in most urgent need of attention.

"Manchester City have bought some very talented players but have often done better at home than away and that's why they need some concrete around that talent," he said.

"You need tough players and determined defenders so that you don't break the heart of your strikers.

"If you let three or four in, the strikers will have to score more than that, which they can't always do.

"Teams like Manchester United and Chelsea have got their defence right - winning teams always do.

"City are starting to get that blend right - they have good talented players and also some workers like Carlos Tevez and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

"Players like that will work for their team home and away."

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