Officially Official: Gary Cahill Moves to Chelsea

It's been a year and a half of will-he-won't-he and I'm almost happy to finally report that he, in fact, will. Today, Gary Cahill's switch to Chelsea for £7m became official, and he will never be again a man in white. While our defense will certainly miss him, it's hard to begrudge a young player wanting to go to bigger and better things, and he's certainly done his part in his 4 years at the club. Since being signed by Gary Megson in January 2008, he's made 130 appearances for the club and scored 13 goals, a very good tally for a central defender.

The man himself had this to say of the move:

"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. Opportunities like this you can't turn down."

It's safe to say that his time at Bolton paved the way for him to make a move of this magnitude. Before his arrival at the Reebok, he was a relative unknown, not even getting much playing time in his loan spells from Aston Villa first to Burnley then Sheffield United. However he quickly rose, earning the Best Newcomer award at Bolton, even though he was only there for half the season.

This season he's been indispensable, earned the honour of the captain's armband on more than one occasion, deservedly so. While he made errors as well, over all he's been a rock when Bolton badly needed one, as he was towards the end of the Megson days. It's sad to see him go, a bit like watching your child go off to college and leaving you behind, but we wish him the best of luck, especially for England. And we will never forget this, or the many other times he made our hearts soar more than any Wanderers fan has a right to.

Skip to 0:20 for the Cahill goal