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Cape Town - Chelsea's Gary Cahill admits that the team are going to miss his central-defensive partner John Terry when the Blues stalwart inevitably leaves the club or retires.
The 35-year-old former England international came through the youth academy to make over 700 appearances for the Blues, and has been their captain since 2004, but his impending retirement leaves Chelsea with some big boots to fill.
"No player is going to play on forever, and there comes a time where you have to move on, or retire, or move clubs, or whatever it is going to be," Cahill told Sky Sports.
"But to replace someone like him is going to be difficult, not only as a player but as a character too, in the dressing room. But like I said, there is a time where that happens, and that is natural. You see that with the likes of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, these players are very hard to replace.
"To achieve what he has achieved at this football club, and to achieve what he has achieved in his career, is phenomenal. Will anyone achieve what he has achieved as a captain at Chelsea Football Club? Probably not. It's something remarkable.
"For me he's been one of the best centre-backs the Premier League has seen. He has consistently performed season after season, which is difficult at a club like Chelsea, to fight off that competition year after year."
Terry's red card in the closing stages of their 3-2 loss to Sunderland means that he will miss their final game of the season at home to champions Leicester City, meaning that picking up a second yellow card against the Black Cats could end up being his final act as a Chelsea player.
