The defender had been set to move to Chelsea for a fee rumoured to be around the £7 million mark. Complications began when personal terms were discussed. It appears that Gary Cahill’s representatives believed the player was worthy of a far more lucrative contract than Chelsea were willing to offer him. It seems Chelsea were more than happy to improve on what the England defender was earning at the Reebok Stadium with Bolton Wanderers, they were not willing to put the player on equal parity with some of Chelsea’s highest earners.
Now with neither Gary Cahill and his representatives nor Chelsea Football Club seemingly willing to change tact it appears the once simple transfer is at an impasse. Until one of the two sides budges the move is unlikely to happen. From the outside it appears that Gary Cahill’s motivation is greater, what with Bolton stuck in a relegation battle and the player set on appearing for England in Poland and Ukraine during the 2012 UEFA European Championships. At that international tournament, interestingly enough, the defender is set to appear alongside John Terry, the Chelsea captain, so long as Rio Ferdinand continues having injury problems. Fabio Capello appears to have accepted that John Terry and Rio Ferdinand cannot play together in every single match, although they most probably do remain his first choice central defensive pairing.
Bolton’s manager Owen Coyle is in no particular rush to sell Gary Cahill. He understands that the defender is, arguably, his most important defensive player and that without him Bolton’s chances of survival in the Premiership are far less. When the player is on form and the team has a solid base to build from it appears a far more resilient unit. On the other hand Bolton are not exactly hiding the fact that they wish to sell Gary Cahi during the January transfer window. The player is reluctant to sign a new contract at Bolton and with that being the case his transfer value diminishes with each passing week. His contract is set to expire in the summer of 2012 and Bolton know that if they do not sell him now then they risk losing him for nothing in the summer. It is a fie balancing act with Chelsea trying their very best to get the highest fee they can for the player, Chelsea trying their best to sign the player for as cheap a transfer fee and as small wages as possible, whilst Gary Cahill himself is after the highest salary he can achieve. At the moment the move appears to not be off but in football expect the unexpected. My guess is it will probably happen at some point during January.