Chelsea activate Chalobah clause to recall centre back from Crystal Palace loan

Chelsea have activated their option to recall defender Trevoh Chalobah from Crystal Palace, just five months after placing him in their 'bomb squad'.

The 25-year-old had joined the Eagles on a season long loan and has made 14 appearances for the club so far this campaign.

Chalobah will not be available for Crystal Palace's Premier League clash against Leicester City on Wednesday evening.

The Blues have moved to recall Chalobah with defender Wesley Fofana currently on the sidelines.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca had been asked about the possibility of recalling Chalobah earlier this month, but gave no indication as to whether the Blues would exercise their option.

'I said already last press conference, he is a Palace player and I think it is a lack of respect,' Maresca said. 'The reason why I think all the managers always say the same is because he is a Palace player.

'If I start to talk about Trev, it's not respect for [Oliver] Glasner, if Oliver starts to talk about our players then it is probably not good for me.

'He is a Palace player. He was here with us working in pre-season very well and then he left. Now he is a Palace player.'

The recall marks a remarkable turnaround, with Chalobah having been left out of Chelsea's pre-season tour in the United States.

The defender was told he had no future at Chelsea in the summer and was told to train away from the senior set-up, with the Blues preferring Fofana, Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill.

Marseca, speaking in the summer, claimed it was a 'sad decision' to leave Chalobah out of their pre-season squad.

‘First of all, from my point of view, it’s always sad to leave players out, that can be out of a pre-season, or can be out of the squad or out of the first eleven because in the end they all work for the same target, that is to be part of the same team,' Maresca said in July.

‘The Trevoh situation for me is quite clear, we have Axel there, we have Tosin Adarabioyo there, we have Wes Fofana who in these two weeks has worked very good and is finally back, we have some very young profiles like Josh Acheampong who is doing fantastic.

‘It’s a sad decision but we have to take the decision.’

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner admitted there had been uncertainty over Chalobah's future in the build-up to their match with Leicester on Wednesday night.

Chalobah had also been left out of the Eagles' squad for their FA Cup third round tie with Stockport County, with Glasner admitting a 'contractual issue' had been behind his absence.

'It’s a tricky situation,' Glasner said. 'I want to always be honest. Chelsea has the possibility to call him back from loan.

'There’s a little bit of uncertainty at the moment: will they do it, when they’ll do it. I have to take the best decision for our team. We need clarity, he needs clarity.

'I don’t want to talk about it in detail. I can’t tell you details about the contract – that’s confidential. There is uncertainty at the moment. Everyone wants and needs clarity.

'You have to be really focused to play a Premier League game, you don’t want to be thinking about different things all day and then trying to focus at 7 pm for a game.'

Chalobah is currently contracted to Chelsea until the summer of 2028, after signing a six-year deal in 2022, with the Blues retaining the option to extend for a further year.