Gary Cahill: I want to be a big part of Chelsea

Yesterday, England international and vice-captain Gary Cahill signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea, which ties him to the Blues until 2019. The 29-year-old defender will be 33 by the end of his deal and, as part of a "new Old Guard" at Stamford Bridge, he's looking forward to playing a bigger part in the team.

"We have seen the club change over the years. It has evolved and players have come and gone."

"Some of the main players at Chelsea in the past, the likes of Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, as well as John Terry, the remarkable thing about these guys is they stayed here for a long period of time."

"Ultimately the club have to want you to be here and with the competition that comes every year, it's very hard to stay at the top of your game and stay in the team for nine-10 years like those guys have done."

"I'm not surprised the team have changed, we have a lot of young players here. But looking forward I want to be a big part of it. My targets are to keep learning and improving, to take my game to the next level. I feel I am quite experienced but I want to get more and try to have an influence on the team in that respect."

"Ultimately, I want to deliver on the expectation of winning things. It's been a terrific few years and I just want more of the same. I'm hungry to do that."

-Gary Cahill; source: Evening Standard

Cahill has been a big part of Chelsea's recent success, accumulating 172 starts in 186 appearances since his arrival in 2012, including the Champions League finals in Munich. John Terry's tenure at Chelsea might be coming to an end next year and with the club still lacking a long-term successor to pair with Kurt Zouma, Gary's new contract just makes sense.