Forgotten £45m Chelsea star could be thrown £4m January lifeline by Champions League giants
Juventus and Manchester United have now both been linked with a January swoop to get Ben Chilwell out of Chelsea.
Chelsea defender full-back Ben Chilwell could be thrown a January transfer lifeline by Serie A giants Juventus as he continues to be frozen out of the Blues squad by Enzo Maresca.
The former Leicester City man has made just one appearance so far this season, a Carabao Cup cameo in the 5-0 win over Barrow and is clearly not part of the Chelsea manager's thinking at Stamford Bridge. It's the latest blow for a defender who has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons.
Chilwell arrived at Chelsea from Leicester City in 2020 for £45 million and lifted the Champions League with the club in 2021. He thrived in those early seasons but is now becoming somewhat of a forgotten man.
Italian outlet Tuttosport has claimed on Thursday that the 27-year-old could be handed the chance to revitalise his career by Juventus. The Serie A club are supposedly looking to add at least one new defender to their ranks in January to cover the losses of left-back Juan Cabal and centre-back Gleison Bremer.
Those two first team stars have suffered season-ending ACL injuries and left holes that need filling. It is not thought that Juventus will accept being forced into splurging a huge amount of cash to do that but a loan move for Chilwell is on the cards.
The report adds that Chelsea could even be willing to send the defender out on loan without a fee given his lack of playing time at the club. Juventus would still need to cough up around £4 million though, to cover wages and bonuses.
Juventus aren't the only club said to be looking at a January move for the Champions League winner. Earlier this month, CaughtOffside reported that Premier League rivals Manchester United were also monitoring the situation.
Speaking about Chilwell ahead of his Carabao Cup run-out earlier this season, Maresca candidly said: “I think so [he will play]. Hopefully we can give him some minutes tomorrow.
“The idea for him was to leave. In the moment that he’s here, he’s one of the squad, he’s training. He will be in the squad tomorrow and hopefully we can give him some minutes.”