Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca sends brutal transfer message to Ben Chilwell as he highlights defender's 'struggles'

The left-back has played just over an hour of football under Maresca this pre-season and was an unused substitute in their 1-1 draw with Inter last weekend. Ahead of facing Manchester City on Sunday, the former Leicester boss admitted the 27-year-old is surplus to requirements at present.

He said in a pre-match press conference on Friday: “Chilly [Chilwell] is with us but he has not been training for the last few days because he has been ill. The reason he did not play versus Inter was because, with Chilly it is quite clear, even though I love the way he is, the problem is, he is struggling a bit to find the right position.

“This morning we had 22 players training and if you ask all of them they will say they want to play against City on Sunday. But that is impossible. When you train every day and do not get any minutes it is not good for them or for me. I need to make a decision and probably it is better to leave and go and get minutes. The transfer window is open so we’ll see what happens.”

Chilwell joined Chelsea from Leicester for a fee in the region of £50 million ($64.7m) in 2020 and while he is undoubtedly a good player, he has spent lengthy spells on the sidelines in recent times through injury. One big issue is that he still has three years left on his contract and if the England international does leave, the Blues will want to recoup as much of their original outlay as possible.

Chilwell is unlikely to feature for Chelsea against City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and by the sounds of it, he is not part of Maresca's plans. Therefore, he has just under two weeks to find a new team permanently or on loan - with the transfer window shutting on August 30.