Earlier this month, Bolton’s Gary Cahill became Chelsea’s first signing of the winter transfer window. The 26-year-old defender’s £7 million move to London presents an intriguing prospect for Fantasy managers and sees one of the most highly-rated Premier League defenders moving from a perennial relegation contenders to the dizzy heights of Champions League contention.
Chelsea certainly required rearguard reinforcements. Just six clean sheets from 22 games this season is hardly top four form. In their title winning 2009-10 season, the Blues managed 11 clean sheets by the same stage and finished with 18. Even last term, when cracks in the defence were exposed, Chelsea had notched up 10 clean sheets by Gameweek 22.
Statistics
The appeal of Cahill, who is priced at 5.2 after starting the season at 5.5, is his combination of strong defensive qualities with an added goal threat. Dominant in the air, during the 2010-11 season with Bolton, he was among the top Premier League defenders in terms of winning aerial battles and firing in efforts on goal – notching three strikes over his 36 games played. Since starting as a senior player at Aston Villa in 2004 he has scored 17 league goals, the bulk of these with Bolton.
Cahill has suffered a frustrating season. With injuries exposing the fragility of Bolton’s squad, clean sheets, the bread and butter of a defender, have come at a premium. Despite this, Cahill has maintained decent form. Crucially, he is amongst a select pack of defenders, a group that includes Blackburn’s Chris Samba and Arsenal’s second best striker Thomas Vermaelen, who regularly register efforts on goal each match, posing a potent threat at set-pieces.
Cahill has notched twice this season, most recently in Gameweek 20 away at Everton. His goal, together with a strong defensive display, earned him maximum bonus points. Bolton’s opening game of the season, away to QPR, also saw him rewarded with two bonus points, after scoring and keeping a rare clean sheet. With 13 points in the Gameweek, his highest of the season so far, we saw huge early FPL investment in Cahill. However, Bolton’s following run of fixtures (MCI, liv, MUN, NOR, ars, CHE) led to an unsurprising slump and, week by week, we’ve seen Cahill’s early ownership dwindle away.
Prospects
Back on the radar following his move to London, early adopters drafted Cahill into their Fantasy squad ahead of Chelsea’s Gameweek 22 clash with Norwich and were left disappointed. Not only was he left out of the starting line, Andre Villas-Boas failed to find room for him on the bench.
Despite this omission, the Chelsea boss has indicated Cahill will get his chance; a lack of training time with the team was the key factor sited and Villas-Boas was keen to stress his belief that Cahill has the ability to play his part…
 He has good technical abilities which is important in the way we want to play and to implement our passing philosophy.
There’s every indication that Cahill’s chance will come very soon. There is speculation that he may even start for Chelsea in the QPR FA Cup game this weekend. If selected, it promises to be one of the most important games in his career; an impressive showing could see Cahill established early alongside Terry in defence.
On paper, Cahill looks a shoo-in to partner his fellow England international for the foreseeable future, but regular starts are far from guaranteed. Cahill faces stiff competition from the erratic but athletic David Luiz, with Branislav Ivanović also more than capable as a centre-half. Luiz, who has started the last five Premier League matches, won’t relinquish his starting role easily and, having kept a clean sheet at Carrow Road, Vilas-Boas may be resistant to immediate change. Chelsea have kept shut-outs in the last two matches with Luiz at the back, coincidentally around the time Cahill’s arrival was being hammered out.
Should Cahill impress and cement a starting role, there’s little doubt that he has the qualities to offer Fantasy potential. With Terry firing four goals from the back this term, Cahill will fancy his chances of exploiting Chelsea’s set-piece delivery to add to his own tally. Clean sheets will also be more plentiful and Cahill’s dominant style will likely see him amass clearances and blocks to tempt high EA Sports PPI scores and FPL bonus.
While hasty investment looks risky, once Cahill is established, his price tag will offer a relatively cheap and assured route to defensive returns within a top six side, with a strong goal threat thrown in. That looks a decidedly tempting proposition.
