Chelsea's Carney Chukwuemeka
Chelsea's Carney Chukwuemeka (Image: PA)
Enzo Maresca admits former Aston Villa midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka could leave Chelsea in the January transfer window.
Chukwuemeka joined Chelsea in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth £20m after he refused to sign a new deal with Villa. He won the FA Youth Cup in 2021 and was of interest to a number of clubs at the time, before Chelsea were happy to match Villa's valuation of the then-18-year-old.
Enzo Maresca hasn't included Chukwuemeka in any of his matchday squads for a league game this season, limiting the midfielder to substitute appearances in the Conference League this season, though he was not in the squad for Thursday's 5-1 rout of Shamrock Rovers.
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"There are players who unfortunately didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions, like [Ben] Chilwell, like Carney [Chukwuemeka], and probably they are the first who want to leave because they work every day," Maresca admitted. "They train every day, because they want to play games.
"And if they don’t play games, probably they are thinking to leave. But then we will see. With each player, it’s a different situation. So we’re going to see if some of them come knock on my door to say they want to leave, but it depends. We try to find a solution."
Chukwuemeka made his Premier League debut at the age of 17 under Dean Smith in Villa's 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the penultimate match of 2021/22.
The following season, Chukwuemeka made his first league start against Brentford in August 2022, which was one of the 12 appearances he made that campaign. It wasn't enough for Steven Gerrard to keep hold of the youngster, who had his heart set on a move to Chelsea.
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