I’m keeping an eye on my watch and it seems to me that 48 hours was up… nearly 48 hours ago.

Media reports stated on Friday that Chelsea expected to have the Gary Cahill deal wrapped up by Sunday. Then there was a lull, and now it’ll apparently be another 48 hours. I wasn’t instantly chomping at the bit to sign Cahill, but my interest is piqued now and I’m curious to know if the deal is going ahead.

While he’s not a particularly glamorous signing, Cahill has obvious skill and could freshen up Chelsea’s struggling defence. Alex is, of course, on his way out, Ivanovic is injured, Terry’s been alternating between his usual moments of brilliance and occasional uncharacteristic lapses in performance and David Luiz is still making a few cringe-worthy mistakes as he works to find his place in the squad. Consider as well the solid but not always stellar subs Ferreira and Bosingwa, and it’s hard to deny the Blues could use another man in the role.

In addition, I think it would be nice to see another Englishman on the team. It should go without saying (but just in case) that I have no issue with players from other countries. However, Chelsea has a lot of representation from superb African, Brazilian and European lads and not as many prominent English footballers. Terry, Lampard and Cole are our only English “living legends” and the likes of McEachran and Sturridge are superstars of the future. In the meantime, I believe adding another strong Brit to the squad will provide an interesting dynamic when it comes to style of play.

The rumour mill has been perpetuating that the delay in sealing the deal is due to “personal conditions” on Cahill’s behalf, namely that he wants an extraordinary increase in salary to leave the Reebok for Stamford Bridge. Believe what you want, but this impatient girl would just like to know one way or the other! It’s easy for me to brush off silly gossip and not get excited about Facebook updates saying an “inside source” has confirmed Kaka, Beckham, Messi and Balotelli are all headed for Chelsea (maybe I’m exaggerating just a little bit there) but this isn’t one of those stories.

When news reports from more reliable sources like the Telegraph and the Guardian state that Cahill is “almost” a blue, I’m inclined to see some truth in it; what’s more, I just want to know whether it’s happening or not. If Cahill is about to join us, that’s great. We could use his talents and I welcome him to the club. If not, I’m eager to stop looking for a story and move on.

Do you think the Cahill deal is 99% done? Or is there still a significant chance it could collapse? If Chelsea doesn’t obtain him, is there another defender you’d like to see join the team?

One of the small upsides of being a supporter outside of the UK is that I often wake up to news. There aren’t many other positives aspects of the time difference when you live and breathe for something that’s halfway across the world, but I take a little joy in waking up at 5:00am and running the computer to see what’s occurred while I was sleeping. It’s nearly 10:00 pm in Vancouver and my night is coming to an end. Maybe this is one of those times I’ll wake up to discover something exciting?

Written by Danielle