“Sell him and regret it” – Wayne Bridge warns Enzo Maresca against selling 27-years-old Chelsea star to PL rivals
Wayne Bridge, a former Chelsea left back, has cautioned Chelsea that selling Ben Chilwell would be a grave mistake.
Due to his repeated injuries over the last two years, Chilwell has been linked to leaving the team.
Fascinatingly, Wayne Bridge has stated that he would prefer to maintain Ben Chilwell above Marc Cucurella, who is playing well.
“I’d look to keep him, but he just has to stay fit,” Bridge, who made 142 appearances for Chelsea, said of Ben Chilwell in an interview with Betfred.
“He’s missed a lot of games for Chelsea but if he can stay fit, then I don’t know why you’d want to get rid of him, unless there’s something going on in the background that we don’t know about.
“I just believe that Ben has a lot of ability and is capable of proving himself, as long as he stays fit.
“He’s going to have to prove himself if the manager is uncertain about him, but a manager’s head can be turned by a player rather than them being stubborn enough to just force someone out.
“If Ben does well, then he’s still got a chance of remaining at Chelsea. There’s not an abundance of left-backs out there and Ben’s a great one.”
Asked if Chelsea will need to enter the transfer market and sign a new left-back should Chilwell leave, Bridge added: “I think so, yeah.
“Marc [Cucurella] did really well at Brighton, he’s done okay for Spain, but it hasn’t really worked out for him at Chelsea really.
“It’s hard, when you move clubs, to continue playing as well as you have been. You can play in different formations and you’re playing with different players.
“Just because you’ve done really well for one club doesn’t mean that you’re going to automatically click within another.
“It doesn’t always go that way. If the decision was mine, out of the two I’d be keeping Ben Chilwell.”