Chelsea suffered a huge setback last night when it emerged that John Terry’s contract talks had broken down. The captain met Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, this week for formal discussions on a new deal and rejected the club’s offer. It is understood that he is unhappy with the length of the contract and its terms.

Chelsea insist that the situation is not irretrievable, but no further talks are planned or are likely to be scheduled before the end of the season. The club are also in deadlock with Frank Lampard, the vice-captain.

Terry has two years left on his £90,000-a-week contract, which was signed three years ago, and is seeking a new deal that reflects his enhanced status as captain of club and country. It is understood that he has been offered a four-year deal, giving him parity with Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, both of whom earn £130,000 a week, but Terry wants a contract that will commit him to the club for the rest of his career.

Terry’s decision to end talks will be a huge blow to Chelsea as they continue to compete on three fronts and is a sign of further unrest at the club. In addition to the stand-off with Lampard, Claude Makelele has rejected a one-year contract extension because the 34-year-old wants two years.

The problems come at a bad time for Chelsea as they prepare for tomorrow’s FA Cup sixth-round tie against Tottenham Hotspur, but they have not dimmed the ardour of José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, who outlined his determination yesterday to complete an unprecedented quadruple.

The Portuguese believes that his “miracle boys” can achieve a feat that even he considers to be almost impossible. Mourinho’s magpie-like approach to silverware contrasts with that of his domestic rivals, reflecting both the pressure he is under and his desire to succeed. Where Arsãne Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and, particularly, Rafael BenÍtez are prepared to pick and choose, Mourinho wants the lot.

“I think it’s very difficult to win all four trophies, but not impossible,” he said. “If you go through the list of eight Champions League teams, nobody can win all four. Only Chelsea has those conditions. The other countries have only three competitions, but nobody is ready to win all three.

“We want to win everything, which [makes for a] difficult choice. What is more important for Chelsea: winning the third Premiership, the first Champions League or the first FA Cup of my time? How can you choose?

“I don’t think Liverpool chose to be in March and only playing in the Champions League. If you ask Arsenal if they want to lose three competitions in the same week, it’s not their choice.”

Chelsea pride themselves on being different, as the design of their new training complex demonstrates — a luxury that being owned by a multibillionaire permits them. Mourinho proclaimed that Chelsea scorn image and are concerned only with winning, in another criticism of Arsenal’s supposed style-over-substance mantra.

“Arsenal are intelligent in their approach,” he said. “I don’t think with a political approach. We don’t fight our image in a political way, we fight in a sports way. You win, you succeed; you lose, you fail. Our approach is about sport. We don’t protect ourselves.

“I’m not saying to you 20 times that against Porto we finished the game with three boys of 20. We’re not these kind of people. If they’re 20, 19, 18 or 34 is not the point. If we play very good and we don’t win, it’s not the point. We have a direct approach to win and suffer the consequences of that if we don’t win.”