STEVEN HOWARD - Chief sports writer
IT always struck me as strange how Carlo
Cudicini stayed at Chelsea despite little hope of replacing Petr
Cech. Yes, he was getting vast amounts of money for doing so. But,
at the same time, the sands of time were running out.
And, at 34, there wasn’t much left. Now, though, there
is reported interest in him from Aston Villa and Manchester
City.
Now normally I would cheer Cudicini for finally seeing
sense and deciding it will be a far more enjoyable retirement
looking back on a career where he was fully employed rather than
staring at an enormous bank balance. That, at 34, he was showing he
still retained ambition.
Then we look at the two clubs involved. And the fact
their respective goalkeepers are part of that rare breed — young,
gifted and English. What a blow for them and their international
prospects if they were to be replaced by a foreign veteran like
Cudicini.
And to think, like England fast bowlers, you once only
had to holler down a mine shaft for another couple of gems to pop
their heads out. I think you might have to stay at the Bridge after
all, Carlo!
