Arsenal have certainly suffered a glut of defensive injuries this season, and we are going to be even more stuck for Sundays game at Southampton with Sokratis and Mustafi facing one-game suspensions. We may have Laurent Koscielny returning to the fold after six months out, but we were rocked by the news that Rob Holding will miss the rest of the season.
So now the papers are insisting that we are going to be looking for added cover, with the Mirror saying that Emery is keen on Eric Bailly from Man United, but unlikely to get him, and the other suggestion is Gary Cahill from Chelsea. This is what they reported: “Cahill, meanwhile, is unwanted by new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri and has been told he can leave on loan with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
The 32-year-old has been heavily linked with AC Milan but could be handed a chance to stay in the Premier League as a short-term solution for the Gunners, if Chelsea are willing to let him move to a top four rival.”
It is true that Cahill has only actually played 21 minutes for the Blues this season, and it was no secret that Arsene Wenger wanted Cahill at Arsenal before he moved to the other side of London from Bolton. Their were suggestions that Arsenal had made a derisory offer, which seemed to be confirmed by Cahill himself before the FA Cup Final against Chelsea last year. He was talking about his nearly-move to Arsenal with the Express when he said: “It was close. The move broke down on the fee, nothing to do with me.
“It never got down to whether or not I wanted to go there, it was between the two clubs. They showed interest, but they couldn’t agree a fee.
“It seemed like it went on forever, there was speculation for about a year and a half. I thought it would never happen. It was not distracting on the pitch, but personally.”
Considering Chelsea only paid 7 million six months later, it must have been quite a small offer, and it certainly proved to be a bargain for our rivals.
But now Gary is reaching 33 years of age in a week or two and his career at Stamford Bridge is over, but could he still do a job for us while Holding is out? Surely he can’t have suddenly become a bad defender overnight?
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