Mourinho given green light to land Chelsea man in cut-price deal

Manchester United are readying a move for Gary Cahill after Chelsea reportedly told the defender he can leave Stamford Bridge in January.

The former England centre-back has been left down the pecking order under Maurizio Sarri this season with his game time limited to cup competitions.

The 32-year-old has played just 21 minutes in the Premier League this season and that was down to an injury to Antonio Rudiger against West Ham.

Now the Daily Express report that Sarri will not stand in his way and he “is now set to leave on loan in January, with a permanent departure now on the cards at the end of this season”.

Manchester United, Southampton, West Ham, his boyhood club Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday are all interested in Cahill, who said in September that he would not be afraid to make a big decision over his future.

“Having been a big part of things for six years, I’m finding it difficult to deal with this situation,” Cahill said. “A lot of things have been running through my head. We had such a good experience at the World Cup and I’d never take that back. The flip side is I came back a week before the season started against three defenders who’d been back plenty of time before me.”

Asked whether he could leave in January, he replied: “I don’t want to jump the gun but as things stand, probably yes. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions.”