Gary Cahill has been named as the new Chelsea captain by head coach Antonio Conte.
The centre-back skippered the side for much of last season, with John Terry restricted largely to a back-up role, and he has now been given the armband on a full-time basis.
Cahill has enjoyed a highly successful spell at Stamford Bridge since signing from Bolton Wanderers in 2012 and Conte believes he has shown himself to be captain material.
“I think that it’s right to continue with Cahill, if he plays, it’s right he’s the captain,” said Conte, as quoted by The London Evening Standard.
“Why? Because he stayed in Chelsea for many years and played a lot of games and showed good characteristics to be this.”
However, Conte urged Chelsea’s other senior players to take on greater leadership roles during his second season at the club.
“I think also we can have other captains in our team, it could be [Cesar] Azpilicueta, [David] Luiz, and also, in the future, it could be Thibaut Courtois, Cesc Fabregas,” he said.
“I think every single player must improve in this [being personalities in the dressing room] and 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.”
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