£20m Chelsea player had his heart set on joining PL club in the summer before a transfer collapsed

Add as preferred source on Google

Chelsea’s first-team player reportedly had his heart set on joining a rival club in the summer before the deal fell apart.

The Blues were very busy in the recent summer transfer window in signing, selling and loaning individuals. Eventually, head coach Enzo Maresca has been left with a pretty healthy and talented Chelsea squad.

Interestingly, ESPN pundit Gabriele Marcotti thinks only one of Chelsea’s four most techinically gifted players actually start for them.

• READ MORE: Rating every sale made by Chelsea in the summer transfer window, one deal gets 4/10

Carney Chukwuemeka really wanted to join Crystal Palace

Journalist Simon Phillips has claimed via Substack on Thursday that Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka thought at one stage during the summer that he would be joining Crystal Palace. In fact, the 20-year-old Blues midfielder even had his heart set on a move to Selhurst Park.

It is explained that Chukwuemeka’s move to Palace was advancing, but the transfer collapsed after Chelsea moved the goalposts.

As a result, the English youngster ended up staying put in west London beyond the summer window. So far, he’s played zero minutes in Enzo Maresca’s side since the season started.

Calciomercato recently claimed that AC Milan could make a fresh move to sign Chukwuemeka next year; this comes after they showed interest in him during the summer.

Chelsea need to use him

It’s going to be a huge shame if Chukwuemeka spends the next few months watching from the sidelines without any football. At the very least, we want to see the talented youngster get some decent minutes in the various cup competitions.

We think that the attacking midfielder should be in contention to play next week when Chelsea host League Two club Barrow in the Carabao Cup. Also, he’s been named in the club’s Conference League squad, so the match against Gent on 3 October should be in his sights.

Let’s wait and see if Maresca is prepared to use Chukwuemeka after overlooking him so far this season.

On paper, we believe that the English playmaker could be a good fit and actually excel in Maresca’s system if he gets the opportunity.