Enzo Maresca has made another Chelsea play surplus to requirements ahead of the new season
Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher have been sidelined from Chelsea’s first-team setup, with Gallagher actively seeking a resolution with the club after a potential move to Atletico Madrid fell through at the last moment.
Additionally, another senior player, Ben Chilwell, has been advised to seek a new club. Maresca made this known publicly during a press conference. Despite being Chelsea’s vice-captain and having had the summer off, Chilwell played only 64 minutes in preseason and did not feature in the last three matches. It seems Marc Cucurella, the Spain international, will be Maresca’s preferred choice at left-back.
Although Chilwell hasn’t been excluded from training with the first team, Maresca has suggested that Chilwell might benefit from moving away from Stamford Bridge to secure more regular playing time.
“Chilly (Chilwell) hasn’t been training the last few days due to illness,” Maresca said to reporters before the season opener against Manchester City.
He continued, “I really appreciate him, but he’s been struggling to find his best position with us. This morning, we had 22 players training, and everyone wants to play against City on Sunday, but that’s not feasible.”
Maresca added, “When players train daily but don’t get game time, it’s not beneficial for them or for me. I need to make decisions, and it might be better for them to leave and get minutes elsewhere. The transfer window is still open, so we’ll see what happens.”
Chelsea still has an extensive roster of 43 players, including Romelu Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga. However, Maresca has excluded 15 players from activities at Cobham, only allowing the 28 players who went on the United States tour to participate in first-team training.
According to Maresca, co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart are working on finding solutions for those who are out of favor.
