Chelsea FC have earmarked Bolton Wanderers centre-back Gary Cahill as the long term successor of current club captain John Terry and the West London club will make their move in January.
The defender was one of the most talked about players over the summer transfer window with White Hart lane side Tottenham Hotspur coming close to signing the defender on the final day. Cahill had also been linked with a move to Tottenham and Chelsea’s nearby rivals Arsenal however the Emirates side had a bid turned down and then switched their focus to the more reasonably priced Per Mertesacker.
With Cahill’s price highly likely to drop in January with no new deal on the cards by Owen Coyle’s side there will be numerous side interested however Chelsea are aware that should they bring the young Englishman on board, he will expect a lot of action in the first team. This could mean the sale of Brazilian defender Alex who has been linked with a move to Juventus recently with possible suitors Bayern Munich having opted to go with Manchester City’s Jerome Boateng last summer instead.
For Cahill himself this could be the end of a very long running transfer saga that started at the beginning of last season. With no new contract on the table and Bolton keen to cash in his value of £17m during the start of the summer is likely to have dropped by at least 50% after Christmas.
With John Terry perhaps in his last two or maybe three seasons the Chelsea management team will be keen to blend the two together as soon as possible, a partnership that would work for the Stamford Bridge club and England.