Ben Chilwell could be in line for a dramatic return to the Chelsea first team after being included in the club’s squad for the Premier League.
Chilwell was told in the summer that he didn’t fit into Enzo Maresca’s plans and was free to leave in the transfer window. The Blues were desperate to find a new home for the left-back, who is being paid around £200,000 per week.
But while Chelsea did manage to offload some other unwanted players, Chilwell was not one of them. He has not been included in any of Maresca’s five matchday squads so far this season, but the Italian has now been forced to reintegrate him from the so-called bomb squad group at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.
Having been forced to train away from the first-team, Chilwell has now been offered an olive branch out of necessity and has made the 25-man squad, which was confirmed today. "Ben is now probably the only one that is still here,” Maresca explained in a press conference on Friday ahead of Saturday’s match against Bournemouth.
“We are going to sit with him and find a solution because he is the only one. He is probably going to be back with us in a training session, we will see, because right now he is not training with us."
Asked if Chilwell could rejoin the group, Maresca explained: "The reason why he is training apart is because the idea was for him to leave but because he didn't find a solution, he is probably going to start to train with us. In the moment, if we decide that, he is going to be one of the players."
Chilwell joined the club in a £50million move from Leicester in 2020 and still has three years left on his lucrative Chelsea contract. He made just 13 appearances in the Premier League last season due to hamstring and knee issues – factors which added to the difficulty in finding a buyer over the summer after he missed out on England selection for Euro 2024.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Can Ben Chilwell force himself into Enzo Maresca's plans at Chelsea? Comment below.
Speaking during Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the USA, Maresca explained that Chilwell didn’t fit the brief for his playing style, which sees full-backs move into midfield in possession. Marc Cucurella has started the first three Premier League matches this season at left-back, with Renato Veiga playing in the Europa Conference League against Servette.
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