Chelsea Boss Antonio Conte Confirms Gary Cahill Will Replace John Terry as Captain
Antonio Conte has confirmed that Gary Cahill will take the Chelsea captaincy following the departure of long-serving defender John Terry.
Cahill regularly took the armband last season due to Terry's lack of first-team football, and was widely expected to be handed the role on a permanent basis.
The 31-year-old could be faced with more competition in the Chelsea squad last season following the arrival of Antonio Rudiger from Roma and the return of Andreas Christensen from his loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
But Conte has claimed that Cahill was an easy choice due to his experience and longevity with the club.
"I think that it’s right to continue with Cahill," Conte said, quoted by the Evening Standard. "If he plays, it’s right he’s the captain.
"Why? Because he stayed in Chelsea for many years and played a lot of games and showed good characteristics to be this."
He added: "I think also we can have other captains in our team, could be Azpilicueta, Luiz, and also, in the future, it could be Thibaut Courtois, Cesc Fabregas.
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"I think every single player must improve in this (being big personalities in the dressing room) and understand [they have] to take more responsibility because we lost big players and we need now to find these new players to create this fundamental for Chelsea.
"It is very important for our future success to create this base.
"But I think right now it’s right to give the armband to Gary. He’s playing with the club for many years, he has the right characteristic to be a good captain."
