Cahill indeed a target, AVB points to limited January activity

By: Jack | December 27th, 2011

I think we all had a feeling, for better or worse, that Gary Cahill was going to be a Chelsea player come January after seeing Owen Coyle’s comments last week. Now, we have some concrete information from Andre Villas-Boas that the club is indeed pursuing the English defender.

Only a matter time until this is closed then?

garycahillengland

Here’s what Villas-Boas said according to the club’s official website:

Regarding what we are trying to do in central defence, we are trying to close a deal [for Gary Cahill] but I don’t think we will do much more than that, maybe one more player. Central defence is our number one priority and we will try to solve it as soon as possible. We had initial talks with Bolton but that doesn’t mean he is our only target.

Not exactly surprising considering what we knew about the potential of a deal for Cahill happening. What is more interesting in this short couple of sentences is AVB’s remarks on what other transfer business could be done in January. Or better yet, the lack thereof.

Villas-Boas doesn’t see us doing much more than securing a central defender. Perhaps one more player, he says.

This will no doubt shoot down the hopes of many a supporter hoping to see the club go batshit crazy in search of game-changers (i.e. Eden Hazard, Mario Goetze and the like). That major overhaul will have to wait until the summer – which is a good thing. As you know, working out deals for world-class players in January is damn near impossible. Better to attempt to fill gaps carefully rather than going nuts, considering the short span to recruit and the limited options available.

Of course, Villas-Boas may be playing his cards close to his chest. I’m sure if an elite player became available for the right price, and our manager was interested, a deal could be a go. Regardless of who else we sign, it looks like a transfer for Cahill is almost a done deal. We best get ready to welcome him.

Just for shits and giggles, who do you think that one other player may possibly be? Milos Krasic? Michael Chopra?

Some Related Chelsea Posts:

Category: Quotes, Transfer News, Transfer Rumors

« Malouda gets crabby, could be on the out in January | Home | Who’s your ideal CFC transfer target this January? »

Joshua Sutton

http://www1.skysports.com/foot...
<--That link has some good/bad news. Looks like Romeu will stay through next season. That's good. The bad news? Sounds like that'll be the end of it and he'll go back to Barca.
Sharinganfx

for the love of god, Josh needs games. send him out on loan to Bolton as part of the deal or w/e. I hope we get at least a CB + 2 more because our squad is rather thin, especially with ACN...

2 longshots that might be good for us: Shaqiri and....Hoillet*. yes, I went there, but that's more like a cheap target in the summer when the rovers drop.

*disclaimer: I'm Canadian.
Maysam

I am glad we are not going to spend a lot. We just need to be patient and trust our young players ...
MikeyF

We aren't winning anything this season. Hopefully a quarterfinal appearance in CL. Must ensure top 4 in EPL, obviously. Otherwise, it is time to develop a squad for the next 5 years. Experiment with formation and style, develop cohesion, and discover who the players of the future are. We must put our best squad out, but playing more of Bertrand to see if he will be able to provide relief for Ashely, and giving Lukaku a few more opportunities makes sense. We will need to add at least two top quality players (Cavani, Hazard, Goetze, Hulk, Modric type) in the summer. For now, let Sturridge, Mata, Torres, Ramires, Luiz and Romeu see what they can do. This is the core of out side for next 5 years
Ben

Well said. I'll be gutted if Bertrand leaves, and considering we've still got Bruma out on loan, I think come the summer, the defence won't be too shabby. For me, the biggest area to look at is the striker/playmaker. With Drogs off in January, that leaves Torres and Lukaku, hardly bags of goals there. Unless AVB pushes Sturridge up top, and this mystery other player to arrive in January is De Bruyne.
Jack

Don't forget van Aanholt is almost certain to return to the club in January after getting pretty much nowhere at Wigan during the first half of the season. It'll be interesting to see what the club decide to do with him at that point.
CharlieFineman

I'd like to see Pat getting an occasional game or two back here. But, if Bertrand can't get a game, and we're out of Carling Cup, he'll most likely be shipped out again, to a different team perhaps?