Chelsea star ready to reduce salary in an attempt to join Juventus during January transfer window: Reports
Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell is reportedly ready to take a wage cut to join Juventus. The left-back is keen on playing regularly and sees a move to Italy as the ideal step in his career.
As per a report in TuttoSport via Football Italia, Chilwell is in talks with Juventus regarding a move in January. The Serie A giants are keen on signing the Englishman on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the season.
The report claims that the Blues are willing to waive a loan fee as long as Juve cover the left-back's wages. Chilwell is keen on making a move to Turin and is ready to take a wage cut for more playing time.
Chelsea have opted to make Marc Cucurella their first-choice left-back this season, with Renato Veiga as the second option. New boss Enzo Maresca has also opted to try Reece James and Malo Gusto at the left-back position over Chillwell.
The former Leicester City star was linked with several Premier League clubs in the summer, but a move did not materialize.
Enzo Maresca had told Ben Chilwell to leave Chelsea
Enzo Maresca has been open about his plans at Chelsea and urged Ben Chilwell to leave. He acknowledged that the left-back would struggle for minutes at Stamford Bridge as he is not a part of his main squad for the season.
He told the media via Yahoo Sports:
“Chilly [Chilwell] is with us but he has not been training for the last few days because he has been ill. The reason he did not play versus Inter was because, with Chilly it is quite clear, even though I love the way he is, the problem is, he is struggling a bit to find the right position."
"This morning we had 22 players training and if you ask all of them they will say they want to play against City on Sunday. But that is impossible. When you train every day and do not get any minutes it is not good for them or for me. I need to make a decision and probably it is better to leave and go and get minutes," Maresca added.
However, when a move did not materialize, Maresca claimed he was not going to banish the left-back. He added that the defender would be used as and when needed and said via GOAL:
"Ben is one of the guys who was ready to leave, but he’s here and he’s training with us. He’s training well. He’s our player. The situation with him was very clear, but now the situation has changed a little bit. Game after game we are going to consider in case we are going to use him.”
Ben Chilwell has played just 45 minutes this season – the second half against Barrow in the League Cup. He was on the bench for one other match – the fourth-round loss to Newcastle United but did not come on.
Chilwell was not in the matchday squad for any of the other games this season.