Since he's clearly available, why not try for the Bolton's central defender?

He's in his prime, proven in the league and would be great replacement for Alex if the Brazilian leaves for Juventus.

Last, but not least, he's English and will help us in the homegrown department.

If Alex leaves I'd rather we promote Rakjovic (wp permitting) or Chalobah.

If Alex leaves I'd rather we promote Rakjovic (wp permitting) or Chalobah.

Rajkovic, yes. But Chalobah is still a bit too young.

Edited August 21, 201114 yr by The Moos

Cahill would expect to be a first team player (which he wouldn't regularly be in our team) and we would be paying a lot of money for him. Our priorities are elsewhere and we should not be spending big money on a centre half.

I think we're pretty much covered in the CB department with JT, Ivanovic and Luiz all being capable of starting any game for us. If we want more cover we should be aiming for a younger player who'd not be bothered by not getting too many first team opportunities as well as being able to step in if the team needs. Scott Dan is one such player imo. Cahill is first team material and wont be too happy being fourth choice center back, would he? And as Loz said, he'd cost pretty penny which could be invested in a position which requires immediate attention.

Got to say there I don't think there is a lot of point in trading away a perfectly good centre-half to bring in Cahill. Apart from him being HG, that trade weakens the squad because let's face it Cahill isn't really in Alex's league.

If Alex wants to leave because he is worried about Luiz getting his gametime, I think we should promote from within. Rajkovic if he passes his WP, is perfectly fine as a fourth choice centre-half and if we add Kalas into the mix we are solid there. Of course it can be said we faced the same decision last season after Carvalho left, didn't strengthen and then got caught out. But I think Rajkovic is a more solid and certainly more experienced player that Bruma our 4th choice from last season was.

Of course that all depends on him getting his permit. If not then as loz says, question has to be asked whether it is worth spending the money on a 3rd or 4th choice centre half (depending on how much time Ivan spends at RB.)

I still think we should be making every effort to keep Alex. Despite his error yesterday he is incredibly underrated at this club.

Got to say there I don't think there is a lot of point in trading away a perfectly good centre-half to bring in Cahill. Apart from him being HG, that trade weakens the squad because let's face it Cahill isn't really in Alex's league.

If Alex wants to leave because he is worried about Luiz getting his gametime, I think we should promote from within. Rajkovic if he passes his WP, is perfectly fine as a fourth choice centre-half and if we add Kalas into the mix we are solid there. Of course it can be said we faced the same decision last season after Carvalho left, didn't strengthen and then got caught out. But I think Rajkovic is a more solid and certainly more experienced player that Bruma our 4th choice from last season was.

Of course that all depends on him getting his permit. If not then as loz says, question has to be asked whether it is worth spending the money on a 3rd or 4th choice centre half (depending on how much time Ivan spends at RB.)

I still think we should be making every effort to keep Alex. Despite his error yesterday he is incredibly underrated at this club.

I assumed that Rajkovic is on the way out. If not, he can be used as a fourth option.

I like Alex and think he's an important player for us.But he is 29 and spent plenty of time in the sidelines last couple of seasons due to injuries. It's not likely that he's going to get any healthier with age. Plus, apparently he welcomes the move to Italy.

Homegrown rule is very important to us because we struggle with numbers when it comes to filling that quota. I don't see any English midfielders or strikers that can come in and improve our options(except maybe Adam Johnson but he isn't available) so getting a solid defender to bolster our depth is imo a good idea. JT has put his body on the line countless times and will feel the aftereffects in seasons to come. David Luiz is exciting player but he's a bit too adventurous for a centreback, needs to learn a few things. Ivan is great but he can't last all season.

It doesn't have to be Cahill. Don't know much about Scott Dann but if he's quality, let's look into it.

If Alex goes I'd love for us to sign Cahill but I just wonder what about Luiz?

No thanks

Would cost almost 20 million, no European experiance and we already have 4 CBs that are better than him

I am more worried about how to fit Ivanovich in.

Well now that Rajkovic seem to be gone I would understand if we looked at another CB. Though I would perhaps prefer if we bought a new RB instead and used Ivan as CB only.

Well now that Rajkovic seem to be gone I would understand if we looked at another CB. Though I would perhaps prefer if we bought a new RB instead and used Ivan as CB only.

agree with u, but who?

agree with u, but who?

I think Dann would make more sense if we are looking for a 4th choice defender.

All I'm gonna say is that if we wanted to go with a centre half from Brum, we should have brought Roger Johnson, Chels through and through.

I wouldnt be entirely opposed to moving on Alex, and making a decent profit on him while we still can. I love the big guy but Italian clubs would pay good money for him, IMO.

For me, any replacement at CB has got to be an English option like Cahill, but cheaper than him. Johnson and Dann are the two names in my mind. I say this, because in a few years I dont think anyone will break into that position past David Luiz and Brana

Terry, Ivanovic, Luiz & Alex.

I'm sorry, but I really don't see the urgency to get another CB back in... how many clubs (that don't have a bunch of CBs with chronic injury problems like Spurs) actually have more than 4 top centre backs?

We're going to struggle enough to keep those four happy, never mind adding someone like Cahill into the mix.

Terry, Ivanovic, Luiz & Alex.

I'm sorry, but I really don't see the urgency to get another CB back in... how many clubs (that don't have a bunch of CBs with chronic injury problems like Spurs) actually have more than 4 top centre backs?

We're going to struggle enough to keep those four happy, never mind adding someone like Cahill into the mix.

The logic behind selling Alex when we had Rajkovic was that Terry/Ivan/Luiz/Rajkovic would be more than good enough for a title run while freeing up another foreign-grown player slot and making a profit. Since Rajkovic can't get a work permit, the "making a profit" part of that idea has gone out the window, but this is still one of our deeper positions if we're looking to free up squad space by swapping foreigners for lesser home-grown players.

Terry, Ivanovic, Luiz & Alex.

I'm sorry, but I really don't see the urgency to get another CB back in... how many clubs (that don't have a bunch of CBs with chronic injury problems like Spurs) actually have more than 4 top centre backs?

We're going to struggle enough to keep those four happy, never mind adding someone like Cahill into the mix.

Thats the point. Look at United last night. They fielded Jones, Evans and Smalling all at the same time. Lucky for them all were superb and Spurs a bit naive but do you for once believe we wont have sh*t our pants at the prospect of fielding 3 fairly young and inexperienced defenders against a team like Spurs? Its a question of belief. Who is to say Bruma wouldn't have done far better than Paulo last season against Sunderland.

We don't need another defender, end of story. I don't know why we are linked with central defenders all the time, it's not like we play more than 2 of them at the same time.

From Sky:

10:09 Breaking News: Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle has confirmed the club have rejected an offer from Arsenal for Gary Cahill.

Here's what Owen Coyle had to say about it: "...the word derisory doesn't even cover it."

Apparently the bid was all of £7m.

You could barely get Titus Bramble for that nowadays.

Yep I saw that later. Before I knew the size of the offer, I wrote In another thread, that Arsenal were definitely attempting to strengthen at the back.

With the benefit of hindsight, what I should have written is that Wenger is having a laugh.

But it wasn't us so it's not derisory or predatory, they won't be accused of tapping him up or anything like that. What's that Ian Wright? 7m is perfectly acceptable bid for Cahill? It's a bloody outrage that Bolton won't sell him I say.

Seriosuly what is Arsene Wenger on? He deserves a slap for that bid of £6 Million.