Bolton defender Gary Cahill has revealed that the transfer saga regarding his future was mentally tiring, and that he is looking forward to concentrating on playing football.
The central defender was subject of bids from both Arsenal and Tottenham, with a move to White Hart Lane almost coming to fruition on deadline day.
“I’m not going to lie – it affected me a little bit,” the centre back told reporters in a press conference.
“I’ve not experienced that on a deadline day before. It was just a matter of me thinking of what was happening, wondering if they [Bolton] were going to accept a bid or not. It was a bit mentally tiring. Then when the window was shut, it was a question of focusing on the job in hand,” he continued.
Despite this, Cahill put the uncertainty behind him to start his first competitive fixture for England against Bulgaria on Friday, and scored a crucial goal for his country.
“I want to stay in the side. At the minute there is a nice freshness about the side, with new players coming in and players that are desperate to impress. There just seems a new freshness about the whole thing,” he stated.
With Cahill in the last year of his contract at the Reebok Stadium, he expects the rumours over his club future to continue, but he is focussed on playing well for Bolton and England.
“No doubt the speculation will go on but I’ve had speculation for probably a year and a half. All I can do at the moment is put my performances in for Bolton. You see the [England] manager coming and watching the games and, if he is not impressed, he won’t carry on picking me. So it’s down to me really.”
Cahill is in line to start for his country against Wales at Wembley on Tuesday night.