Date: 17th January 2012 at 10:12pm
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With Gary Cahill’s appearance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday suggesting a deal to Chelsea is all but done for the England international, I began to wonder if he is worth all the fuss.

A couple of years ago, like a lot of people, I thought Cahill was a good centre-back. He was beginning to play for England and could pass the ball pretty well. He would never be truly world class but he was very good – and English, which seems to be a bonus for some people.

Now though, I am not so sure. He hasn’t played particularly well this season in a struggling Bolton team and it will be a lot to ask for him to come in and play well in a struggling Chelsea team. Of course, Chelsea are a much better team than Bolton, but they are suffering many of the same difficulties. Struggling to keep clean sheets and struggling to find a pattern of attacking play that works for them – I must stress that Chelsea are in a period of transition and I fully expect Andre Villas-Boas to turn them into a championship-winning team again.

The point though, is that there will be a lot of pressure on Cahill. I expect him to be able to handle the pressure of playing for a bigger club, but there will be added pressure on him to perform well, to simply turn his form around in a heartbeat.

And even at his best, is he good enough for Chelsea? As I said before, he is a good player, but Chelsea will have title winning aspirations next season (and possibly still this season). Cahill won’t become the John Terry of three or four years ago and he’s not as good on the ball as David Luiz – albeit he is a much better defender.

In my opinion Chelsea should have gone for Chris Samba. Samba has said recently that he wants to move to a bigger club. He is a beast of a centre-back who strikers hate to play against. He would make that Chelsea defence feared, as it was under Jose Mourinho, and he is a good communicator. He can play a bit as well. Samba would probably cost around the same as Cahill too, around €8million.

Cahill’s contract at Bolton was due to run out at the end of this season and I think it says a lot that he wasn’t bought in the summer, when lots of top teams were looking for central defenders. On top of this, Chelsea could have waited until the end of the season, when a free transfer would represent even less risk, although Tottenham were also thought to be interested in a January move and could have forced their hand.

I do like Cahill and I’m sure he will be a success at Chelsea…eventually, it just seems as though they have rushed into the signing. As if Villas-Boas is so desperate to stamp his authority on the squad that he has signed the first readily available half-decent player.

One thing is for certain, with Luiz still adapting to the Premier League and John Terry struggling, Chelsea need someone to come in and take charge of their defence. I can’t see Cahill being that someone.

By Daniel Cross for the Transfer Tavern

 

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