Ben Chilwell’s absence from Saturday’s FA Cup match against Morecambe, which would have been the defender’s final game at Stamford Bridge, has been explained by Enzo Maresca.
Chilwell was assigned to train apart from the first team after it became apparent throughout preseason that he was not part of Maresca’s plans, but a summer departure did not come to pass.
Although he has returned to training with the first squad, the England international has only played 45 minutes of football in the Carabao Cup match against Barrow and has been told he is free to leave the team.
Chilwell is one of a number of players along with the likes of Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka who Chelsea are looking to move on.
In fairness to the 27-year-old he’s not made a fuss and has got his head down and trained hard, but Maresca has stuck to his word and it seems he’s played his final game for the club.
Chilwell would have a unique opportunity to play in Saturday’s FA Cup match and bid farewell to the Chelsea supporters, but Maresca has revealed why that won’t be the case.
When asked if he had discussed leaving Chilwell out of the squad with him, Maresca told the Evening Standard, “I didn’t discuss with Ben about that.”
“I don’t have to talk to him about it, any more than I need to talk to Cesare about it.
“It would probably be better for them if we behaved like we would like to behave tomorrow.
Maresca continued, “I believe Ben wants to play from the moment we start, not just tomorrow.”
“[But] we started six months ago, and regrettably, he didn’t get minutes because of my decision. As a result, I think it’s pointless to give him a chance in the final game [before].”
Even though there aren’t thought to be many suitors for him, Chelsea won’t want to risk a possible transfer by getting hurt or tying the Chilwell Cup, so even though it might seem harsh, you can understand why.
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