- 10 hours ago
CONFIRMED: Who Chelsea will sell in January
Robin Bairner
- 20 Dec 2024 13:53 GMT
- 3 min read
Enzo Maresca has made a flying start as Chelsea manager, with the Blues’ excellent form under the former Leicester boss continuing as they beat Shamrock Rovers 5-1 in the Conference League on Thursday.
Chelsea are also in the race for the Premier League title – even if they refuse to admit it – as they have installed themselves second in the table, two points behind Liverpool with a game more played.
But Maresca also knows that his squad will change during the January transfer window, with the Italian admitting that several players are likely to depart Stamford Bridge in that time, including potentially Christopher Nkunku.
Speaking after the Shamrock Rovers victory, in which summer arrival Marc Guiu caught the eye by scoring a hat-trick, the manager revealed which Chelsea players will be departing during that period.
“We don't want to sell players in January… but probably players that are not playing a lot, they might be unhappy and want to leave,” he told TNT Sport. “Then we’ll see what happens.”
Who will leave Chelsea?
Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell are both expected to leave Chelsea in January, Maresca, speaking on Friday, added.
"There are players who didn’t play a lot with us in, like Chilwell and Carney… probably they are the first who want to leave. We will try to find a solution," he admitted.
Maresca's words on Thursday, meanwhile, cast further doubt onto the future of Nkunku, who has struggled to find regular first-team football due to injury since arriving from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023. Finally fit again, he finds his place in the starting XI blocked and has been restricted to a handful of minutes in the Premier League.
Current ETV
Christopher Nkunku
AM, F, M (C)
Chelsea
Christopher Nkunku
AM, F, M (C)
Chelsea
ETV Range
€21.7M - €36.2M
Centre-back duo Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi are also likely to find their futures called into question, while the same can be said of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who has played only 55 Premier League minutes after following Maresca from Leicester in the summer.
Cesare Casadei is also liable to be put on the transfer market.
Maresca’s broad sweep of unhappy players could, therefore, refer to numerous Chelsea players in addition to Chukwuemeka and Chilwell.
