Cahill completes Chelsea switch

Jan 16, 2012, 15:35 GMT

London - Chelsea completed the signing of England defender Gary Cahill from Premier League rivals Bolton Wanderers on Monday.

Cahill, 26, signed for a fee of 7 million pounds (10.7 million dollars) after two weeks of wrangling over personal terms.

He's understood to have settled for around 80,000 pounds a week, 20,000 less than he was demanding.

'Chelsea is a massive club, it is a club that looks to win trophies season in, season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that,' Cahill said. 'Opportunities like this, you can't turn down.'

Cahill was part of a Bolton defence that has let in more goals than any other side in the Premier League this season, but has performed well alongside Chelsea captain John Terry at international level.

'He has good technical abilities which is important in the way we want to play and to implement our philosophy,' said Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas.

'Our passing philosophy in building from the back. He has speed of anticipation, is an English international of course.

'Competition will be tight for him but we brought him in to become better as a team.'

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