Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca issues brutal Ben Chilwell transfer message

Enzo Maresca has told Ben Chilwell he is free to leave Chelsea.  The 27-year-old left-back has played just 64 minutes throughout pre-season and was an unused substitute in last weekend's 1-1 friendly draw against Inter Milan.  And Maresca has indicated the player does not feature within his plans, declaring: "At this moment, Chilly is with us. He has not been training in the past two days because he was a little bit ill.  "With Chilly it's quite clear, I love the way he trains, I love the way he is but the problem is that he struggles with us a little bit to find his best position.

"When you train everyday and you don't get minutes, it's not good for them and it's not good for me because I need to make decisions. For some players, it's sometimes better to leave and to go somewhere to get minutes. We will see what happens, the transfer window is open and we will see what happens."  It's been a tough summer for Chilwell, who was also left out of Gareth Southgate's squad for the European Championships. Marc Cucurella has made the left-back role his own in west London since nailing down a starting berth last season under Mauricio Pochettino, when he flourished as an inverted full-back. Manchester United are among the clubs in the market for a left-back and they are believed to be tracking Chilwell amid a host of other possible options.

Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia have both failed to prove their fitness ahead of the 2024-25 campaign as new signing Noussair Mazraoui was drafted in as a makeshift solution against Fulham.  Chilwell did not feature in any of Chelsea's final three pre-season friendlies and the club are now open to offers, even though he is yet to be drafted into Maresca's 'bomb squad' - a collection of players that have been frozen out of the first-team picture.  Meanwhile, the Italian tactician refused to be drawn on links to Victor Osimhen and Joao Felix, stating: "The only thing I can say is they are not our players, so it is not correct for me to talk about a Napoli player or an Atletico Madrid player. At this moment, the club knows exactly what I think in terms of what we need."  Chelsea remain in talks with Atletico over a move for Felix as if they fail to agree a transfer deal for the Portuguese attacker, Conor Gallagher's move in the opposite direction will collapse altogether and they will risk losing him on a free next summer, which could have damaging implications for FFP.