RED AND BLACK AND AT THE BACK
Former Chelsea captain Gary Cahill has revealed he snubbed interest from the Premier League to join Championship side Bournemouth, inspired by the challenge of getting the club back to the top flight.
The 61-cap former England man enjoyed a trophy-filled seven years at Stamford Bridge before leaving for Crystal Palace in 2019, making 45 appearances for the Eagles before leaving in the summer.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Bournemouth’s clash with QPR tonight, Cahill revealed: “I could’ve stayed in the Premier League – Palace offered me another year.
“They needed to lower the age of the squad, so that didn’t work out, but it was fantastic there. It’s a great football club and I enjoyed my two years, but I had other opportunities as well to stay in the league.
“This isn’t me being disrespectful, but the teams that I would have gone to, I would maybe have been losing more games than winning.
“Speaking from my own point of view, am I going to add to my appearances or am I going to have a different challenge and come to a club that, again, is changing and, ultimately, challenge for promotion?
“In terms of the opportunity to come here, I saw that as a totally different challenge to what I’ve been used to in previous years and one that I was excited about.”