Chelsea are open to loaning Ben Chilwell to a Turkish club, with the left-back potentially facing four months without first-team football if he remains at Stamford Bridge, according to The Telegraph.
Chilwell missed out on securing a transfer before the English window closed on Friday, August 30 and with the Saudi Arabian window now shut, Turkey represent his last opportunity for regular football before January.
The Turkish transfer window remains open until September 18, giving Chilwell a slim chance of finding a new club.
Chelsea had hoped to sell Chilwell, who is on a £200,000-a-week contract, but a permanent deal appears unlikely at this stage.
Despite his previous role as the club’s vice-captain, no concrete offers have been made for the defender, and Chelsea are now prepared to let him leave on loan.
Under new head coach Enzo Maresca, Chilwell has been informed that he will not feature in the first team and has been training separately from the main squad.
This is in stark contrast to other senior players, like Raheem Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah, who have successfully moved away from Chelsea after being relegated to the so-called “bomb squad.”
Maresca has made it clear that Chilwell will not be reintegrated into the first team if he fails to secure a move.
As a result, Chilwell could be left without senior football until the January transfer window if he does not agree to a move to Turkey.
Maresca has expressed that Chilwell’s style does not align with his tactical approach, which involves full-backs pushing into midfield or acting as a third center-back.
Marc Cucurella has been starting on the left under Maresca, with summer signing Renato Veiga serving as his understudy.
On the right side, Chelsea are hopeful that Malo Gusto’s hamstring injury, sustained against Crystal Palace, will not sideline him for long.
However, the Frenchman may miss the first match after the international break against Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, Reece James, who has been out injured for the opening three games that he would have missed through suspension, is still a couple of weeks away from returning to full training.
If both Gusto and James are unavailable, Maresca might have to consider deploying Moises Caicedo as an inverted right-back.
Additionally, midfielder Romeo Lavia is expected to resume training soon with the aim of being fit for the Bournemouth game.
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