Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell could be on his way out before the transfer window shuts later this month, according to head coach Enzo Maresca.
Chilwell, who has struggled for game time during pre-season, clocked just 64 minutes across Chelsea’s fixtures.
Notably, he remained an unused substitute in the club’s final warm-up match against Inter Milan, even as Maresca made several second-half substitutions.
Despite being under contract until 2027, Chilwell’s future at Chelsea seems uncertain.
Maresca has admitted that the England international may no longer fit into his tactical plans, casting doubt on his involvement in the upcoming Premier League opener against Manchester City on Sunday.
“Chilly [Chilwell] is with us but he has not been training for the last few days because he has been ill,” the Italian said.
“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.”
Maresca has inherited an oversized squad. With Chelsea making 12 additions this summer and potentially adding more, the former Leicester boss has been compelled to offload several players from his primary training group.
“We spent 20 days in America with 28 or 29 players, so it was quite good to manage the squad,” Maresca added.
“Now we have guys who are not part of the squad and are training apart.
“At the moment, it is not difficult, but if I start to think I have 43 players, it’s not good.”
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