Enzo Maresca confirms he s handed a lifeline to Chelsea star Ben Chilwell, who is under consideration for selection after returning to first team training.
The England international appeared to have no future at in August as the former Man City coach considered for his first-team squad, and was told he could leave.
However, Chilwell has been named amongst the club’s 25-man squad eligible to play in the Premier League. Ahead of Saturday’s trip to face London rivals West Ham, revealed that the situation had changed.
“Ben is one of the guys who was ready to leave, but he’s here and he’s training with us,” he said. “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.”
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The head coach would not comment on whether the 27-year-old was in contention to be named in the squad for the game at the London Stadium, though midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are available after injury.
However, captain Reece James, who is yet to play this season, and his natural stand-in at right-back, Malo Gusto, are out.
Maresca said he had no issue with new signing Jadon Sancho receiving a yellow card 11 minutes into his Chelsea debut during the win at Bournemouth.
The Manchester United loanee was booked for dissent shortly after coming on as a half-time substitute in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium, a match that broke the Premier League record for the most yellow cards shown in a fixture.
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Sancho joined Chelsea on transfer deadline day on a deal until the end of the season and is looking to restart his career having fallen out of favour at United.
“If a player comes and doesn’t look motivated or passionate, it’s a problem,” said Maresca. “Now a player comes and looks passionate and motivated, it’s a problem? It’s not a problem.
“It just shows his desire. I don’t think there was any kind of discipline problem in that game. Jadon showed what we expected from him.
“Not only in that 45 minutes, but also in the day by day, the way he is working, it’s fantastic. Hopefully it can continue in that way.”
