First rewind almost eight years to the day and John Terry had stood confronted by massed ranks of dictaphone wielding media, deep in the bowels of Wembley stadium, contemplating what Chelsea must do next. The names that had tripped off his tongue that afternoon were David Villa and Franck Ribéry, “the kind of players we want to attract, the best out there”, with the senior pros sensing the current crop might fall marginally short when it came to Europe.

A year on and, with the club having recruited only Yuri Zhirkov of note in the interim, the captain’s rhetoric remained steadfast. “The big four need to strengthen next year because everyone’s become closer,” he had said before the successful defence of the FA Cup which would complete Carlo Ancelotti’s Double in his first season in charge. The established quartet were coming to terms with Manchester City’s new financial strength and, this time, Chelsea would react. Ramires, David Luiz and Fernando Torres arrived over the next seven months for a combined £90m, an eye-watering outlay at the time. Two years later the team would lift the European Cup in Munich.

And so to Saturday night, and one last rallying cry from a familiar face delivered from virtually an identical spot in the post-match mixed zone – a hurrah from an outgoing captain denied the chance to lift a 16th major piece of silverware by Arsenal’s excellence but whose outlook could not be too downbeat given Chelsea’s own startling success in reclaiming the title this month. Terry will be watching on from afar, perhaps contracted to a rival Premier League side while Antonio Conte attempts to transform this squad into Champions League contenders, but, echoing those sentiments from the turn of the decade, the veteran’s message was clear.

“I think we can push on but, listen, clearly we have to keep improving year after year,” he said. “You can’t stand still in the transfer market. And that’s not a [message] applying just to us, that’s just everyone: everyone needs to keep raising the bar. Manchester City have already made one big signing in Bernardo Silva, so we need to act fast. I am sure the club will do the same and the manager has stressed that himself. Not playing Champions League football this year has been big for us but [being back in the fold] can be an attraction when it comes to signing bigger and better players.

“This current squad is good enough to go and compete and I think we’ve shown that this year. But naturally there are going to be more games next year so the squad needs improving, and a bit more strength in depth. Seeing from a different perspective, from my point of view, it’s been good to see certain people stand up to the plate – at half-time against Arsenal, and in other big games when we’ve been losing – and really show they can step into the shoes that I, Frank [Lampard], Didier [Drogba], Ashley [Cole] and Petr [Cech] have left. I am really confident in this group of players that they will kick on.”

This club will not stand still. Conte’s own ambition would not allow it, though all within the hierarchy have recognised the need to add greater depth of quality ahead of a return to European competition. Chelsea aspire to win the Champions League and not merely make up the numbers. The manager is returning to Italy for a short break with his family this week but will soon be back for meetings with the director, Marina Granovskaia, and the technical director, Michael Emenalo, over recruitment plans. He has already spoken of being “cold” in his planning, a reflection that, for all his team’s achievements this season, some ruthless decisions will have to be made.

City may have stolen a march by plucking Silva from Monaco but Chelsea envisage securing another of the Portuguese’s former team-mates, Tiemoué Bakayoko, in the days ahead with dialogue open between the clubs. There is interest in Ivan Perisic at Internazionale, Virgil van Dijk at Southampton and, of course, Romelu Lukaku at Everton. Terry is unlikely to be the only high-profile departure. Asmir Begovic will join Bournemouth, though Diego Costa’s resistance to a move to China has complicated his exit. The striker, whose volley had briefly drawn the champions level on Saturday, would prefer to return to Atlético Madrid, though they in turn may have to part with Antoine Griezmann to make that deal viable. Chelsea will sell, but only at the kind of price being mooted by Tianjin Quanjian.

As for Terry, his work here is done. He cleared out his locker down at Cobham last Thursday and will now spend some time with his family before determining what lies ahead. “I do want to be a manager,” he added. “I’ve learned too much not to pass that on, whether that’s initially to a younger generation or eventually at this level. This is the target: being here at Wembley managing a top side. But for now I’ve got options but nothing set in stone. I’ve got memories in here that will never go away. That sounds a little bit soppy but that’s me. I’m Chelsea through and through. Chelsea’s my club, I love it.” They will still progress without him.