Gary Cahill is ready to stay and fight for a Chelsea place, despite being frozen out of Maurizio Sarri’s squad and facing uncertainty over his club captaincy.
Head coach Sarri has yet to include Cahill, who captained Chelsea to the FA Cup last season and has also won the Champions League, two Premier League titles, the Europa League and the League Cup with the club, in any of his three Premier League squads.
That prompted suggestions Cahill could leave Chelsea, either on loan or permanently, before the end of the month when the overseas and Championship transfer windows close.
Reports in Turkey claim Galatasaray have been chasing Cahill, while there was Premier League interest in the 32-year-old earlier in the summer.
A move to Turkey is not thought to be attractive to Cahill at this time and unless a much better option emerges, the central defender is prepared to try to fight his way back into Sarri’s plans until January when he can reassess his situation.
That is despite the fact Cahill may find the captaincy given to either César Azpilicueta or Eden Hazard on a long-term basis, with Sarri still considering who to make his full-time captain.
One option available to Sarri would be to allow Cahill to stay on as a club captain while making either Azpilicueta or Hazard his team captain. But, either way, it appears Cahill is in danger of losing the armband that he wore last season and most of the previous campaign when John Terry was out.
Azpilicueta captained the Chelsea team against Newcastle United, but Hazard has also been considered by Sarri and a final announcement on the captaincy could be put off until the players return from the international break.
Cahill has often found himself benched by previous Chelsea managers, including Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, only to force his way back into the team.
But this is the first time he has been left in the stands, with Sarri claiming that defenders take longer to learn his methods.
“I think that, in this moment, for a defender it’s more difficult to play in my team after only 20 days of training,” said Sarri. “It’s easier for an offensive player. For a defender it’s more difficult. So I think that, at this moment, he needs to have a lot more defensive training with us.”
Asked if he had communicated that to Cahill, Sarri replied: “Yes, but I told him that he needs to be patient now. And that he is very important for us.”
Another player left out of Sarri’s plans so far, Danny Drinkwater, is also preparing to stay at Chelsea at least until January.
Chelsea are prepared to sell or loan out Drinkwater, but the 28-year-old spent pre-season trying to impress Sarri and prove that he can be part of his squad.
That does not seem to have worked as Drinkwater is yet to be part of Chelsea’s matchday squad, but the midfielder is reluctant to be rushed into a last-minute loan move in the final few days of August.
Sources close to Drinkwater currently believe it is more likely he will leave Chelsea, either permanently or on loan, in January, if his position in Sarri’s pecking order has not changed.