Cahill reflects on ‘crazy’ season after swapping Bolton for Chelsea

Gary Cahill admits it has been a “crazy” season for the England defender after moving from struggling Bolton Wanderers to FA Cup winners and Champions League finalists Chelsea.

The 26-year-old joined the Stamford Bridge outfit in a £7m deal in January and the centre-half has already made 18 appearances for the Blues.

Cahill picked up a hamstring injury in the second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final clash at Barcelona but is hoping to face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Saturday after returning to training on Tuesday.

And the former Aston Villa defender is eager to cap an impressive start to his Chelsea career by claiming his second winners’ medal following Chelsea’s FA Cup final victory earlier this month.

“It’s been a mad season but a fantastic one,” Cahill told reporters. “Obviously it’s worked out pretty well. I will look to build my career at Chelsea now and move on.

“Just to win the FA Cup and then going into this huge game within my first six months of being here is really crazy.

“I’m hoping to be selected for England for the summer. If that is the case on Wednesday it will have been a fantastic second half of the season.”

If Roberto Di Matteo selects Cahill to face the Bundesliga outfit in Munich this weekend it will mark the defender’s fourth Champions League start – and Cahill believes he is more than capable of competing on Europe’s biggest stage.

“Of course it’s where all players want to be [in the Champions League],” he added.

“I was no different. I thought I was probably ready to try and make that step up and I’m thankful for that.

“You don’t get any higher than international football but the Champions League, club-wise, is where you want to be.

“I’m fortunate enough to have played in that and hopefully that will continue in the next few seasons.”