Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has admitted that while he respects long-serving defender Gary Cahill, that the 32-year-old’s future may lie away from Stamford Bridge as he needs ‘technical defenders’.
Cahill has been with Chelsea since arriving from Bolton in 2012, but has struggled for opportunities this season and having entered the final year of his contract has been linked with a January move away.
“I respect him very much. He has won everything with this club. I have to respect him, then I have to do my job. For every match I have to choose, and for me it’s not easy to put him on the bench,” Sarri said before Chelsea’s Europa League game against Vidi.
“Maybe he is the best of our defenders inside the box, but I have to think our centre-backs usually play about 100 or 110 balls in a match, so I need very technical defenders.
“It’s not my decision. It is up to him and the club, because he is in his last year of contract so he has to decide for a new contract here or with another club.
“You know for over-30s the club usually offers only one-year contracts. If he has an offer of three years [from elsewhere] he can decide on something else. It doesn’t depend on whether I am sentimental or not!”