Chelsea may have a pay Ben Chilwell a huge severance package in order to get him off their books this month, according to a new report from The Sun.
Chilwell hasn't played a single minute of Premier League football this season and manager Enzo Maresca has made it clear that the Englishman is free to leave the club.
The Italian coach said earlier this year: "Chilwell is a lovely guy but because of his position he is going to struggle with us."
Offloading the 28-year-old, however, may be difficult for Chelsea.
The Sun report that Chilwell, who earns £200,000-per-week at Stamford Bridge and is contracted until 2027, is not willing to take a pay cut in order to play regular football, meaning the Blues could have to pay him a massive compensation fee in order to get him to move on.
Alternatively, Chelsea may have to heavily subsidise a loan deal to another team. Italian giants Juventus and Chilwell's former club Leicester City are among those reported to be interested in his services.
Chilwell joined Chelsea from Leicester in 2020 in a deal worth around £45 million.
He's since made over 100 appearances for the Blues and was a key player as the club lifted the Champions League in 2020/21.
But despite his experience, he's no longer part of Maresca's plans, with the 44-year-old preferring both Marc Cucurella and Renato Veiga at left-back.
Speaking to the press last month, Maresca said that he expects Chilwell, as well as midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, to ask to leave in January.
"There are players that unfortunately didn't play a lot with us in all the competitions like Chilwell, like Carney," he said. "Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games and if they don't play games probably they are thinking of leaving."
Maresca added: "Each player is a bit different situation, so we're going to see if some of them are coming and knocking on the door to say, 'I want to leave,' or something like that. We will try to find a solution."
Where should Chilwell go?
Everything Chelsea says...
Though Chilwell clearly has no future at Stamford Bridge, he's still a great player and would be a brilliant acquisition for almost any other Premier League club.
A return to his boyhood club Leicester, who are fighting relegation, would be a fairytale, but it's unlikely the Foxes would be able to afford his wages.
Manchester United, on the other hand, are having problems at left-back with Luke Shaw out injured again and Diego Dalot struggling for form, and Chilwell would be a great fit.
Old Trafford has proven to be somewhat of a graveyard for talented players in recent years (just ask Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount), however, so whether or not Chilwell would fancy it is a different story entirely.
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