Chelsea coach confirms Nigerian midfielder is thinking of leaving Stamford Bridge in January

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Austrian-born Nigerian midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka and defender Ben Chilwell are considering leaving the club in January to secure more regular playing time. 

The announcement came ahead of Chelsea’s upcoming Premier League clash with Everton. 

Chukwuemeka, who joined Chelsea from Aston Villa in the summer of 2022, has struggled for minutes this season, making just five appearances across the UEFA Conference League and Carabao Cup.

Despite an encouraging start to his Chelsea career, including scoring his first goal in a 3-1 defeat to West Ham, the Nigerian midfielder’s progress was hampered by a knee injury. 

Though he has since recovered, Chukwuemeka has found it difficult to break into the first team.

Maresca addressed the situation during his pre-match press conference, acknowledging that both Chukwuemeka and Chilwell had not featured prominently in the team’s plans.

"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, they train every day, because they want to play games," Maresca was quoted as saying by Football.London.

"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 has represented England across multiple youth levels, including U17, U18, U19 and U20. 

However, he has not yet earned a call-up to the senior national team.

With the lack of senior cap, the young midfielder remains eligible to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the future.

Adeyemi Adewale

Photo Credit: chelseafc.com

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