Gary Cahill? Meh, at least it appears he’ll come cheap

By: Jack | December 23rd, 2011

There’s nothing signed and sealed at the moment but it’s fair to say there has been dialogue (with Chelsea). I’ve got to be up front and tell you, as I always do, and that’s the situation.

Those are the key words, straight from the mouth of Bolton manager Owen Coyle. Yeah, it looks as if Chelsea is closing in on a deal to bring famously mediocre central defender Gary Cahill to Stamford Bridge. Excuse me if I don’t leap with joy at the thought.

cahill
Value signing?

Andre Villas-Boas confirmed twice earlier in the week that the club was monitoring Cahill prior to the opening of the January transfer window. Now, with Coyle jumping into the mix to further support that stance, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the recently turned 26-year-old England international trades up – way up.

A number of media outlets, some of them actually reputable, are reporting that this move is already a done deal and that Cahill’s transfer will be announced as soon as the window opens. The fee? Somewhere in the region of £7 million.

That’s not bad. Add in the fact that Cahill is English and will not occupy one our coveted international slots, and the kind of cake being discussed seems supremely tasty. Still, I’m not really sold on Cahill. He’s never caught my eye; this season, in particular, he’s been pretty poor even within the context of having to play in a wretched team. I know he’s playing alongside Zat Knight, but come on.

With that being said, I ask: What does AVB see in him? What is the idea behind the transfer?

Is Cahill being brought in as a direct replacement for castaway Alex, or is he fully expected to compete for a first-team position with our current lot of central defenders – David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry. Unlikely. Perhaps Cahill is our in case of emergency, break glass (Terry is found guilty of racist abuse) option.

To be honest, the idea of Cahill being able to displace any of Bane, Bob or EBJT is laughable. So, in that light, it would appear that Cahill would be coming in as a like-for-like trade with Alex. Is he better than the Brazilian? I’m not sure. What he is, though, is younger and English. Pivotal points.

Also, it must said that Villas-Boas hasn’t really steered us wrong with his transfer dealings at the club thus far. He’s proven to have a keen eye for not only young talent, but bargains (see Raul Meireles) as well. If he views Cahill as a good enough for Chelsea then we probably should, too. Then again, maybe AVB is looking at that price and thinking we can’t really pass that up for a serviceable English defender. I can’t really argue with that perspective, either.

So, what have we learned here tonight? Well, for one, that Jack is not a massive fan of Gary Cahill. However, we managed to work through that and come to the conclusion that, if signed as a squad player, Cahill represents pretty killer value. A moderately young English defender for £7m doesn’t come along very often – if ever. At the very least, we should be able to sell him on for a profit if it doesn’t work out or if he wants pitch time elsewhere.

Of course, nothing is official yet so we may just have had this little conversation for no reason at all. It’s cool. Enough from me, what are your thoughts on the potential transfer of Cahill to Chelsea? Let us know people.

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Category: Quotes, Transfer Rumors

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Sébastien

I share your point of view, but I think your article could have been even more complete if you have spoken a bit more about the football player he is in addition of the present situation

In fact I also don't find anything special in him except his offensive threat when he goes forward. Defensively speaking, I find him average/good in all domains. Good in the air, decent in 1vs1, average distribution, average positionning, quite good sense of anticipation... He is commited and can make great blocks, but as are many other CBs
Last season I watched ~20 Bolton games and I wasn't really convinced, I wanted to make my own opinion about him and not after what medias said of him. I'm not a fan of his mentality, I often noticed that he moans easily on his team-mates even after his mistakes ; I also think he lacks concentration on 90mn and he can sometimes fuck up with a poor positionning or a wasted distribution (like if he didn't care at all).

Maybe he's the kind of player that need to play in a team where his team mates will have a good influence on him, one thing is clear he's not a leader. Coyle wasn't stingy with shock choices for the team (Elmander right midfielder, Jääskeläinen on the bench at Blackburn, Marcos Alonso given a run of games ahead of Robinson) and above all he did not gave the armband to Cahill. For me it's not anecdotic
It's just recently that he decided to bench the henceforth poor Davies and then to give Cahill the armband.
If someone noticed some signs of leadership, vocal on in the body language froim him for the last couple of games I'd be glad to hear ones.

I hardly imagine a Cahill-Luiz partnership differently from a "best dribbler 20 yard of goal" and "first one to shoot on target/score a goal" contest at the moment to be honest
MikeT

Cahill makes sense for all the reasons you stated Jack, but I too am skeptical of him really making an impact. Hopefully we can snag Van Der Wiel in January and then maybe make a push for Mats Hummels in the summer. Those two players can solidify Chelsea for years to come. Bertrand is good enough to play now, but will be top class by the time Cashley needs to be replaced. Van Aanholt can provide ample cover.
Chenlsea

Oh, don't write this article, lest Cahill may change his mind. On the background of Bolton, nobody can be good, especially defender. Put John Terry to a League 1 team, he will be aweful too. The Cahill buy makes huge sense:

1) To fend off the like Arsenal or Tottenham getting the defense reinforcement (Cahill wants to partner with Terry to get to Europe 2012, so Arsenal or Tottenham can kiss "Homer's hairy yellow butt");

2) To add a small and quick defender, hopefully with some cultivation and confidence boosting, turn him into our new "Cavalhno".

Cahill is much quicker than Alex. Honestly Alex for Terry is a mismatch. Terry needs a quick partner.
Jack

Terry on a League 1 team is awful? Rubbish. Cahill quick? Never.

No disrespect but I can't agree with any of this.
Jake Gold Lion Westergaard

i actually thought he was pretty great last season, but bolton was strongly over-achieving and the whole team looked better than they probably are. but he has played well on all counts in an England shirt. the cheap price tag is, sadly for Cahill himself, the main selling point. our shallowness in defense is something that needs to be addressed, i just hope Cahill is one of three or four new arrivals... see: Marin, Reus, Erikssen and Moutinho