- 15 hours ago
Chelsea faced with massive bill as €50m star refuses to go
Jacque Talbot
- Updated: 16 Sept 2024 08:54 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell is attempting to push his way into Enzo Maresca's first XI plans despite the Blues' hierarchy making him up for sale, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The former Leicester City player was appointed vice-captain at the start of last season before being informed that he must leave for Stamford Bridge if he wanted to find minutes on the pitch.
So far, Chilwell been forced to train away from the first-team squad as he failed to secure a move away from Chelsea in the summer transfer window, but all that could change.
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The 27-year-old was left out of Chelsea’s Europa Conference League squad but Maresca did say recently that he may be open to letting him resume first-team training.
"Ben is now probably the only one who is still here, so we will sit with him and find solutions. He is probably going to be back with us in the training sessions. We will see.
Current ETV
Ben Chilwell
D, M (L)
Chelsea
Ben Chilwell
D, M (L)
Chelsea
ETV Range
€14.4M - €24M
"At the moment, he is not training with us. But from now on we need to sit with him and find the right solution. The reason why he’s training apart is because the idea was for him to leave but because we didn’t find a solution he’s probably going to start to train with us, we need to decide that."
What did Fabrizio Romano say about Ben Chilwell?
In any case, Romano has come out to say that Chilwell is eager to make an impression under new boss Maresca and find a way back in the starting XI.
The Italian transfer expert revealed in his CaughtOffside column: "This summer there were clubs interested in Ben Chilwell, but the player wasn’t simply going to accept everything just because Chelsea wanted him to find a solution.
"He only wanted to accept important proposals and he’s prepared to fight to get back into Maresca’s thoughts as a concrete option for the starting XI as soon as possible.
"It’s something we should all respect. There are contracts in football and sometimes players are not willing to leave."
Chilwell was bought by Chelsea for €50 million in 2020. He has enjoyed reasonable success but injuries have hampered the former England international. Now has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €19.2m while no clubs during the summer opted to bring him in for a loan spell.
