Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell will feel like a lifetime has passed since Pep Guardiola hailed his performances.
Chilwell, 28, has been deemed surplus to requirements by Blues’ boss Enzo Maresca, who has only given the left-back just one appearance this season. The ex-England international joined the club for £50 million from Leicester City in 2020 and instantly became a crucial player for Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel.
The latter turned him into a dynamic wing-back, which led to Chilwell becoming a crucial part of the Blues’ Champions League triumph in 2021. But while he was a regular under Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino, Maresca has made it clear that Chilwell is not in his plans.
It’s a huge fall from grace for the defender, who was linked with a big money move to Manchester City not so long ago. That will be even more painful when Chilwell recalls the conversation he had with Guardiola when he was still a Leicester player.
In the summer of 2019, Chilwell offered an insight into the comments Guardiola made to him after City and Leicester faced off against each other. He said: “He told me that he thought I was a really talented player and that he wanted me to keep playing well, getting up and down the pitch. That was it.
“And then he walks off to the next person he wants to speak to. I didn’t feel special but it was nice for a successful manager to say I’m a good player.
“I’m at Leicester and with Brendan Rodgers coming in we’re all loving him being there and that’s where my head’s at.”
Fast forward to the present day, Maresca publicly said that Chilwell is free to leave, along with young midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka. In a recent press conference, the West Londoners’ boss said: “There are players that unfortunately didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions like Chilwell, like Carney.
“Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games and if they don’t play games probably they are thinking of leaving.
“Each player is a bit different situation, so we’re going to see if some of them are coming and knocking on the door to say ‘I want to leave’ or something like that. We will try to find a solution.”
Chilwell and Chukwuemeka are understood to be two of five players to be made available in the January transfer market. While the identities of the other three players is yet to be confirmed, Cesare Casadei, academy star Harvey Vale and youngster Alex Matos are rumoured to be the other three who could leave.
Chelsea have enjoyed a promising season so far, but they still have a large roster of players. While they have been deploying two squads this season, one for the Premier League and another for the Europa Conference League, players like Chilwell and Chukwuemeka have been outside of both.
The latter could be difficult to shift, as the Blues are reportedly demanding £40 million for his signature.