CHILL OUT Chelsea in major Ben Chilwell transfer dilemma as they face uphill battle to offload £190k-a-week outcast-Andy Dillon, Football Reporter
The Blues may end up having to hand their Champions League winner a huge severance deal or heavily subsidize a loan to another Prem club.
Chilwell has not played a single minute of top-flight football this season and was part of the ‘bomb squad’ told last summer that they have no future at the club under Maresca.
Chelsea have until February 3 to get Chilwell and others off the books in the winter transfer window.
That includes £20million midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka who has started only one game since August 2023 but still has 3½ years left on his contract.
Chilwell is frustrated at his lack of first-team action and unhappy at being so far down the pecking order.
He has played only one half of one match this season – a 45-minute appearance as a second half sub against Barrow in the Carabao Cup back in September.
Chilwell was not even registered for the club’s Conference League squad for the group stages.
Maresca previously said he has sympathy with the likes of out of favour Chilwell but he does not plan to change his stance.
The Italian said: “There are players that unfortunately they didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions, like Chilwell, like Carney.
“Probably they are the first that want to leave as they work every day, they train every day, they want to play games — and if they don’t play games they are thinking of leaving.
“So we’re going to see if some of them are coming to knock on the door and say I want to leave. For each player it’s a different situation.”
But it will not be easy persuading the England Euro 2020 finalist to accept a pay reduction in order to quit Stamford Bridge.
Chilwell joined Chelsea from Leicester in a £50million deal back in August 2020.
The full-back has since amassed a total of nine goals and 12 assists in 107 appearances.
Chilwell has also won the Champions League as well as the Uefa Super Cup with the Blues in 2021.
Chelsea are currently paying more than £200,000 of Raheem Sterling’s £300,000-a-week wages while he is on loan at Prem rivals Arsenal. –
