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HAS TO ENZ
Chelsea cult hero tells new manager Enzo Maresca to ditch Blues’ transfer strategy… and bring him back out of retirement
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GARY CAHILL called on Chelsea to ditch their transfer strategy and buy some older, experienced heads - just like him.
Todd Boehly’s £1billion-plus spending spree since buying the Blues in 2022 has focused on paying big money for young rising stars.
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Boehly signed off mammoth cheques for Wesley Fofana (£75m), Mykhailo Mudryk (£88m), Enzo Fernandez (£110m) and record-arrival Moises Caicedo (£115m).
New manager Enzo Maresca has continued the trend since taking over from Mauricio Pochettino this summer with Omari Kellyman (£19m), Tosin Adarabioyo (free), Marc Guiu (£5m), Kieran Dewsbury-Hall (£30m) and Renato Veiga (£11.75m) heading through the entrance door at Stamford Bridge.
But Cahill believes the smartest piece of business the new manager could do before the transfer window closes is to land a few veterans.
Thiago Silva spent four years in West London, providing bags of trophy-winning know-how and leadership expertise to a young squad desperately lacking.
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But after the 39-year-old’s free transfer exit at the end of last season, the only two players aged over 30 currently in the squad are Romelu Lukaku, 31, and 32-year-old Marcus Bettinelli.
Of last season’s regulars, Raheem Sterling is the senior statesman at 29.
Cahill, 38, said: “I'd like to see a little bit of experience added in the window, to be honest.
“That would be a sensible play from Chelsea, from my personal point of view, to try and build that spine and knit together some of these young players.
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“Obviously, the tactic has been to buy exciting young players to then develop over the next two or three years. That sometimes takes time, especially when you get players from different leagues, different countries. It's not always easy for them to settle.
“For me, a good transfer window for Chelsea would be to have two or three experienced players that are not phased and potentially know the league but have been around a little bit.
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Gary Cahill's career at Chelsea
- Appearances: 290 (2011-19)
- Goals: 25
- Premier League: 2014-15, 2016-17
- FA Cup: 2011-12, 2017-18
- League Cup: 2014-15
- Champions League: 2011-12
- Europa League: 2012-13, 2018-19
“That would be vital in terms of getting the squad together and helping these young players to progress and almost set the standards and the levels.
“Like with Thiago, he had a big impact there, didn't he? Even at the age that he was at, it was a huge impact. That's a big loss in terms of not just playing but also in the changing room.
“Adding that experience will help this team on and off the pitch.”
Pressed on who he had in mind, the 61-cap ex-England defender and 2012 Champions League winner joked: “Me, mate! Did you see me in Soccer Aid?
“But that kind of pedigree, an experienced player, a top player and a player that's been around and knows the standards and knows what it's like to compete and be at a big club and try and challenge for trophies.”
Maresca certainly knows how to lead teams to win trophies, being Pep Guardiola’s No2 during the Treble-winning season before lifting the Championship in his solo campaign as Leicester boss, securing the Foxes an immediate return to the Premier League.
But Cahill is not necessarily expecting Maresca to add to his personal collection of medals in 2024-25.
He added: “Time will tell. It's quite, what do you say, risky. It's an appointment where I think people are unsure how it's going to go.
“The new manager has got his philosophies and ideas. It's difficult for that to all hit the ground running and be uber successful straight away.
“It needs a little bit of time and patience.
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“Patience can't be a mid-table. I think patience has got to be definitely competing to get Champions League football and pushing on in the last stages of the cup competition.
“They've got a lot of potential in the squad. It just needs to knit together. I think it still needs a year or two to develop and get to the stage where they want to be because you've got such a young, average-age squad.”
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