The brilliance of Marc Cucurella in the last 12 months or so has instantly made a lot of Chelsea fans forget about just how important Ben Chilwell used to be.
Cucurella starred up against Lamine Yamal in Chelsea’s dominant Champions League win against Barcelona, and is now one of the first names on the teamsheet for Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
It is the Spaniard’s presence at the club that made the decision to move Chilwell on so easy for the Blues. He has featured once in the EFL Cup since Maresca took over in the summer of 2024.
Finish this sentence: Enzo Maresca should start ______ on the right wing vs Arsenal
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The left-back is currently playing for Strasbourg, with his time as a first team player in West London being completely over.
Chelsea Training Session
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Ben Chilwell wants to prove Chelsea wrong after forcing him out
He has featured in nine games so far this season for the fellow BlueCo club, and has revealed he has set his eyes on making England’s World Cup squad.
He told BBC Sport that he holds no bad blood towards Chelsea, however is keen to prove them wrong for deciding to give up on him.
He said: “What a story it would be if I went to the World Cup after I was in the [Chelsea] bomb squad and everyone had counted me out 12 months prior.
“It would just be the biggest middle finger to so many people, which to me is a motivation. Chelsea were honest with me and there’s no resentment, but of course I’ve got an ego, so it would be a nice feeling to prove some people wrong.”
Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Emirates FA Cup Final
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Chilwell’s thoughts on Maresca
After playing just one half of football under Maresca, he did not have much experience working under the current Chelsea boss.
However, Chilwell has nothing but respect for the Italian, saying: “I’ve never had anything against Enzo Maresca. I told everyone how much I respected the fact that he was honest, because at least then I could just go, ‘all right, cool, I’m not wanted’.
“Of course I wasn’t happy with the decision – I didn’t agree with it, but I respected it.”
Chilwell missed out on two trophies with Chelsea last season, but did add an FA Cup winner’s medal to his cabinet after Crystal Palace’s triumph over Manchester City.