Chelsea face exit crisis as clubs are not interested in signing ‘very professional’ player

Add as preferred source on Google

Chelsea are desperate to part ways with a number of players this summer, however are struggling to secure the exit of one long-term servant.

With player trading a key element of Behdad Eghbali’s running of the club, the Blues have found themselves having a stacked squad of players to choose from.

There have been examples of where this has caused issues, and Enzo Maresca arrived with a ‘bomb squad’ which mostly found their appearances come in the group stage of the Conference League.

There was an effort to move on a number of these players in January, however they had to settle for loans for the likes of Renato Veiga, Joao Felix and Axel Disasi.

Chelsea have received no interest from clubs in Ben Chilwell

Another player they could not find a permanent suitor for was Ben Chilwell. He instead made a loan move to Crystal Palace, where he became an FA Cup winner for the first time in his career.

Chilwell featured in Enzo Maresca’s first game in charge during pre-season, however only made one first team appearance in the EFL Cup before it became clear he was not in the plans at Stamford Bridge.

It was even reported that Chelsea were willing to sell Chilwell for just £15m this month, although even that is proving to be a struggle.

According to The Athletic, no clubs have come in to try and sign the England international yet, meaning he is therefore set to stay at the club.

Maresca admitted he was ashamed about how they had treated Chilwell, describing the defender as ‘very professional’ in how he had dealt with not playing.

Chelsea close in on Ben Chilwell replacement

With Veiga also set to leave, it has become clear that Chelsea need to sign a new left-back to compete with Marc Cucurella.

The Blues are closing in on signing Jorrel Hato from Ajax, with both clubs expected to compromise on their requested transfer fee.

Hato is set to sign an eight-year deal at Chelsea, seeing the club take the youthful route again at the expense of Chilwell.

For a side looking for an attacking left-back, the Englishman still has a lot to offer, and he certainly has the quality to still be playing in a top division in Europe.