Ben Chilwell is on the brink of a move to Crystal Palace in an attempt to put his Chelsea nightmare behind him. The left-back joined the Blues from Leicester in 2020 for a fee of around £45million.
However, a string of injuries have disrupted his promising career and resulted in him losing his place in the England squad.
Enzo Maresca‘s appointment as Chelsea boss marked the end of Chilwell’s time as a starter at the club, with his only appearance this season being a 45-minute stint against Barrow in the Carabao Cup.
He was also part of the match-day squad for the defeat to Newcastle in the same competition. Apart from these instances, he has been completely overlooked and was even omitted from the squad submitted to UEFA for the Europa Conference League.
In January, Maresca announced that he was encouraging Chilwell to leave Stamford Bridge. It now appears that this is about to happen, with several sources reporting that Palace are keen to bring him in on loan.
Chelsea bosses have given their approval for the deal, with the final details currently being worked out ahead of Monday’s deadline. Palace manager Oliver Glasner has identified the 28-year-old as a key target as he seeks to add more depth to the left-back position.
Tyrick Mitchell is currently the only natural player for that role in Palace’s squad. At the beginning of January, Maresca gave a harsh evaluation of Chilwell’s future.
He stated: “Because players want to play more so there is probably chances for them to leave. But Ben has been top. I have to say that, he has been top.
“Very professional, works hard. I feel shame because of that situation but in terms of behaviour, he has been very good. First of all because it is my choice.
“And because I can see Malo Gusto, Reece James or Marc Cucurella doing different kind of jobs during the game.
“I think Chilwell is a top full-back, doing that up and down and given opportunity in past to win titles and be in the national team. But I struggle to see Ben doing different kind of things.”
Chilwell’s move is certain to excite Palace boss Glasner who felt the blow of Chelsea recalling Trevoh Chalobah previously in the window.
The Austrian manager, gearing up for the upcoming bout with Manchester United, hinted at a busy end to the transfer period: “We planned two signings. We have one, with Romain Esse, and we are still working on the second one.
“Monday the window closes, and I am pretty confident that we will get this deal done.”
“It started this week that we said we have to look [in defence] because in the centre we have five positions and we have just three [players] at the moment.
“We are looking. If there is a good opportunity, we will try to do it. If not, we trust in all our players like we always do. Let’s say ideally two signings, but at least one.”
This story originally appeared on the Mirror
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2025-02-01 18:26:00