Maresca opens door to 3 Chelsea January exits - and it's good news for Man Utd

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has opened the door for three Chelsea exits next month.

Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could all depart for pastures new upon the opening of the transfer window. The Blues are flying high but saw some players train away from the first team in the summer ahead of possible transfers before returning to the fold.

Chilwell was such a player, and the west London side were unable to facilitate a move in the summer. The former Leicester City defender has featured for just 45 minues in the Carabao Cup this term and not made it into a Premier League squad, and drew interest from Manchester United ahead of 2024/25.

Chukwuemeka has seen an identical predicament domestically but earned more minutes in the Europa Conference League. Maresca has conceded that moves could be on the horizon for both players.

"There are players that unfortunately didn't play a lot with us in all the competitions, like Chilwell, like Carney," he said ahead of facing Everton.

"Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games and if they don't play games probably they are thinking of leaving. Each player is a bit [of a] different situation, so we're going to see if some of them are coming and knocking on the door to say 'I want to leave' or something like that. We will try to find a solution."

Dewsbury-Hall finds himself in a more unexpected position after arriving behind Maresca from Leicester in the summer. The midfielder has struggled to break into the former Manchester City coach's first team plans however.

Maresca did not rule out a move for the 26-year-old. "I cannot say that, not about Kiernan, about all the squad, because when the transfer window is open, unfortunately anything can happen," he said.

"So I'm not focused on January, the only thing I can say about Kiernan is that we are very happy in the way he's working, we are very happy about his performance, and this is my thought about Kiernan."

The Italian boss believes some of the club's youngsters will benefit from remaining at Stamford Bridge however. Maresca would like Marc Guiu, Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George to continue learning with the first team.

"I think with young players like Marc, like Josh, like Ty, for me, the best thing for them is to be with us. They can understand every day the way we want to play, they can grow, we can teach them how we want them to play, so I think it's better if they stay with us.

"Then it depends a little bit also on the desire of the players. If, in this case, Marc's desire is to get more minutes and to play more, we sit with him, and we decide together."