Chelsea outcast back in the squad but still expected to look for transfer away in January

Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell now seems to be back in Enzo Maresca’s first-team and can compete for his place in the side, though a January transfer window move away still seems likely for the England international, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Romano explained that he still sees it being difficult for Chilwell to get much playing time at Stamford Bridge this season due to the presence of other left-back options like Marc Cucurella and Renato Veiga in Maresca’s squad.

Still, the situation clearly seems to have improved slightly since earlier in the summer when Maresca spoke publicly about it looking difficult for Chilwell to stay at Chelsea and that he’d surely play more often somewhere else.

It will be interesting to see if the 27-year-old can prove a few people wrong in the next few months, but at the same time it still seems like a long way back for him with the Blues after some bad luck with injuries in recent times.

Chilwell transfer: Chelsea exit still one to watch for January, says Romano

Although Chilwell couldn’t find a move this summer, Romano has made it clear he still expects the former Leicester City man to look for a move when the opportunity arises again this winter.

“Chilwell is back with the Chelsea squad now for sure. Still, I don’t think he’s going to have a lot of space as Veiga and Cucurella remain main options at left-back, but he will fight for his place.

“For January, the expectation is still for Chilwell to look for a move somewhere else.”

CFC ended up offloading a lot of big names in the summer, with Conor Gallagher and Raheem Sterling among the most high-profile exits, though they still have a pretty big squad that could probably do with further trimming down in upcoming windows.