S Poddar
Chelsea’s new head coach, Enzo Maresca, has all but confirmed that Ben Chilwell’s days are numbered at Stamford Bridge. The England international joined Chelsea back in August 2020 but has very much been on the periphery this pre-season, making just 64 minutes of first-team action. The summer signing was among the substitutes for the Blues in their final pre-season game against Inter Milan, but head coach Enzo Maresca used five changes, meaning Chilwell remained on the bench as an unused substitute.
Chelsea has Chilwell under contract until 2027, but these comments from Maresca suggest that Chilwell is not in the plans for the Premier League club moving forward. While Maresca made quite the tribute to the qualities of Chilwell, openly he admitted to problems with seeing a place for him in his current squad. It’s likely the more mentioned and mentioned this becomes, with the transfer window still open for Chilwell’s exit as Maresca looks to streamline his squad.
“Chilly has been with us, but hasn’t trained in recent days because of illness,” said Maresca. “He didn’t play against Inter because, personally, despite my admiration of him, he has been having a hard time fitting into the team. This morning, we had 22 players training, and if you ask them, they all want to play against Manchester City on Sunday. But that is just not feasible. When a player trains every day and receives no competitive time, it’s good for no one. I need to make decisions, and maybe it’s good for him to leave and play more minutes somewhere else. With the transfer window open, we will see what happens.”
Chilwell is just one of a number of players that Maresca is currently placing on the market as he tries to cut down the largeness of the Chelsea squad. The new manager had been left with a bloated side that grew worse, as 12 summer signings now set to get even higher in the coming days, finally left Maresca with no choice but to pick and leave some behind to train with his core group.
“In America, we spent 20 days, with around 28 or 29 players, which was manageable,” he said. “But now we have players who aren’t part of the squad and are training separately. It’s not difficult at the moment, but when I start to think about having 43 players, it’s overwhelming.”
Whereas, as preparing for the competitive Premier League before the thesis, Maresca tested the temperature of the expectations that Chelsea have of a new face at the club. He affirms the owners have not made a mandate for the team to be a top-four finalist finish this season. It is believed that they are undertaking long-term development by incorporating these youngsters into the side.
“No one has told me, ‘Enzo, we need to finish in the top four,'” Maresca explained. “What they’ve asked for is progress—step by step to reach a level where we can compete at the top. I can hardly think about the fact that managers at this club get sacked. All I think about is the long-term vision of the club, which is to build something sustainable over the next five to ten years.”
As Chelsea enters a new era under Maresca, the immediate future of the club is not possible to revolve around quick success, but in laying the foundations for a team to compete at the highest level on a consistent basis. This could see Chilwell either off to points elsewhere or looking to further his career beyond Stamford Bridge.
