New Delhi: English left-back Ben Chilwell has been at Stamford Bridge since the summer of 2020, joining the club on a reported £45 million deal from Leicester City. Up until the end of last season, Chilwell had been one of the first names on the team sheet under the various managers that have been at the club since his arrival. Despite having competition from Marc Cucurella, when the Spaniard arrived in 2022, Chilwell established himself as the first choice left-back when fit.
However, with the arrival of Enzo Maresca in the summer, it was made clear that the Englishman wouldn’t be a part of the manager’s plans. The club were looking to offload the left-back in the summer but were unable to find suitors, given the hefty wages he’s on at the club. The 28-year-old is on a £200,000 weekly wage, which makes him the second highest earner at the club, only behind club-captain Reece James.
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Once the transfer window slammed shut, reports indicated that the Englishman was included back in training with the first team, after he’d spent the entire transfer window training with the reserves. This indicated that the Englishman could still have a future at the club but Maresca’s team sheet for the Everton game all but confirms that the left-back would be out the door come the January transfer window. The club’s first choice left-back, Marc Cucurella, has transformed into one of the best in the world in the last one year and has been a regular starter under Maresca.
However, he was suspended in the previous game against Brentford, picking up a second yellow after the full-time whistle, ruling him out for the trip to Everton. With only Renato Veiga in the squad as the backup left-back, fans were expecting to find Chilwell in the mix tonight but that hasn’t been the case. Instead, Maresca has opted to use Levi Colwill on the left flank with Veiga making the bench and Chilwell not even in the travelling squad, indicating that the 28-year-old has no future at the club anymore.
Why is Ben Chilwell not featuring for Chelsea this season?
Two English players, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell, are likely to leave Chelsea in the January transfer window, alongside Cesare Casadei attracting Serie A interest. With Chelsea needing to optimize their squad after summer signings, permanent exits or loans may be consid… pic.twitter.com/Yk75LivJfs
— Sports Reels Blog (@SportsReelsBlog) December 22, 2024
Ben Chilwell is arguably one of the best attacking full-backs in the league but has been plagued by injury issues in the past few years. He missed a lot of the previous season due to injury but he still has what it takes to play for a top club. Just last season, the left back was made Chelsea’s vice captain but things changed so drastically for him. He has made only one appearance for the club this season, as a half-time substitute in the 5-0 win over Barrow in the EFL Cup third round.
While Chilwell is still a good full-back, he doesn’t really fit the system Enzo Maresca uses. The Italian manager doesn’t use traditional full-backs in his system and likes his fullbacks to invert into either the midfield or the defense. That is something that Chilwell is not suited for with his best traits coming out in the final third and both Renato Veiga and Marc Cucurella are excellent at inverting into the midfield.
Even Levi Colwill, who’s playing at left-back against Everton, can be utilized in this role. The young English defender can play as a left back and did so a lot under former manager Mauricio Pochettino and given that he’s naturally a center back, he can easily invert into the defense to make it a three-man center back pairing, allowing Malo Gusto to break forward. The fact that Chilwell doesn’t fit into the manager’s style and that he didn’t even make the squad when Cucurella is suspended, surely marks the end of his Chelsea career, especially with the winter window just around the corner.
Chelsea’s forgotten man Ben Chilwell has been on the fringes of the first team for the majority of the current season but the club’s lineup against Everton all but confirms the end of his time at the club. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
