Despite reports in Italy claiming AC Milan are front-runners to sign Carney Chukwuemeka in January, the Chelsea midfielder will not be moving to the San Siro.
football.london understands speculation linking Chukwuemeka with Milan is wide of the mark. A report from Calciomercato last week claimed Chukwuemeka has agreed to join the Rossoneri. However, the 21-year-old will not be moving to the Italian club, neither on loan or on a permanent basis.
Chelsea are prepared for interest in Chukwuemeka when the January transfer window opens with the midfielder not featuring at all in the Premier League this season. The former Aston Villa midfielder has played three times in the UEFA Conference League and once in the Carabao Cup, although his time on the pitch equates to just 63 minutes this term.
The Blues have a large squad, full of international players, and the majority of them have been used prominently in either the Premier League or Conference League. In Chukwuemeka's case, though, he has not been used anywhere near the amount he would have envisaged.
Speaking in September, head coach Enzo Maresca admitted he told Chukwuemeka to leave the club in the summer for his best interests. Maresca said: "I will say exactly the same thing I have said many times: Carney is a very good player, but for the amount of players we have, we decided at the beginning of the season it is probably better to leave and go somewhere, prove himself and playing 30 or 35 games than being here and play less games.
"Unfortunately that didn't happen. He is our player. He had some minutes the other day, today he was not involved. Hopefully, we can give him some more minutes."
A little earlier that month, Maresca said: "I said to him personally, and to you in the press conference: I really, really like Carney. The problem is we have so many attacking midfielders that he is going to find space. For me, because of his past with injuries, the best thing to do was to go to some team and prove himself that he is fit and then come back here."