“He told me he’s a childhood Man United’s fan and and has agreed to join them…Maybe he doesn’t want to win trophies again”: Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca confirms Champions League winner has agreed to join Man United
“He told me he’s a childhood Man United’s fan and and has agreed to join them…Maybe he doesn’t want to win trophies again”: Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca confirms Champions League winner has agreed to join Man United
Chelsea are prepared to sell Ben Chilwell this summer and the links to Manchester United have resurfaced following Enzo Maresca’s latest comments.
With Chelsea currently having one of the biggest squads in Europe, the club are looking to offload some of their fringe players in the final weeks of the transfer window.
One senior player who faces an uncertain future is Chilwell, who Chelsea signed back in 2020 for a fee of around £45m.
The full-back is reportedly ‘assessing options’ and is said to be ‘frustrated’ with his current situation. With Maresca in charge, Marc Cucurella appears to be the first-choice left-back and Chilwell has since been told he is free to leave the club.
“Chilly [Chilwell] is with us but he has not been training for the last few days because he has been ill,” Maresca said when explaining the full-backs situation.
“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.”
With the 27-year-old free to look for a new club, the links to Man Utd have resurfaced over the last few days.
Left-back has been a problem position for the Red Devils in recent years as the likes of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia have struggled to stay fit.
Noussair Mazraoui started at left-back in United’s season opener against Fulham, although his preferred position is on the right-hand side.
Erik ten Hag’s side could land Chilwell for a cut price this summer, but Chilwell has been just as injury-prone as the likes of Shaw and Malacia over the last few years which is an obvious flaw in this potential deal.
The Chelsea full-back only started in nine Premier League matches last season and missed the majority of the campaign through injury.
Man Utd will no doubt be sniffing around the 27-year-old in the final weeks of the window, but this deal would come with its risks.
