Gary Cahill has revealed he would have relished the chance to work under Frank Lampard at Chelsea and joked "it's a shame" he wasn't in charge last season.
The 33-year-old ended his seven-year spell association with the Blues this summer after being released upon the expiry of his contract.
The former England international was frozen out by Maurizio Sarri and made just two Premier League appearances under the Italian - one of which was a brief cameo from the bench in his farewell to the Chelsea supporters.
Lampard took over in June, by which time the decision to let Cahill go was already made, and the centre-back joined Crystal Palace on a free transfer this summer.
But Cahill said he would have enjoyed working with Lampard had his former team-mate got there sooner.
"It's a shame he [Lampard] wasn't in last year when I was there," he told talkSPORT.
"No, I'm only joking. It would have been very interesting to work under him, especially when you've played with him and know what he's like, it would have been an experience I would have relished.
"Leaving Chelsea was sad, but naturally everything has to come to an end."
Cahill made no secret of his unhappiness about the way he was treated by Sarri in a newspaper interview before his departure.
But the defender insists he holds no ill feeling towards the club he played 290 times for and scored 25 goals.
"It was certainly the right time for me to go from that club and I have nothing but positive things to say about the club," he added.
"There's no issue there. It was just naturally the right time to go.
"Every single year I've made many, many appearances throughout my career, and last year I made hardly any, so that tells it all and that it was the right time to go."
