football.london understands that Chelsea have received a bid from Borussia Dortmund to sign Carney Chukwuemeka on loan. The 21-year-old midfielder has been heavily linked with an exit from the Blues this month after failing to force himself into Enzo Maresca’s side.
Chukwuemeka, who sees his contract at Stamford Bridge expire in June 2028, has only featured five times across all competitions for Chelsea this season, playing 130 minutes. The former England Under-20 international has started just once in the Conference League, with three more appearances coming from off the bench.
He was also given no more than a quarter of an hour or so during the West Londoners’ 5-0 win over Barrow in the Carabao Cup third round back in September. Speaking to reporters after Chelsea’s 4-2 victory against Brighton last year, Enzo Maresca was quizzed on Chukwuemeka’s future after failing to land a move in the summer.
The Blues boss said: “I will say exactly the same thing I have said many times: Carney is a very good player, but for the amount of players we have, we decided at the beginning of the season it is probably better to leave and go somewhere, prove himself and playing 30 or 35 games than being here and play less games.
“Unfortunately that didn’t happen. He is our player. He had some minutes the other day, today he was not involved. Hopefully, we can give him more minutes.”
Then, in December, ahead of the January transfer window, Maresca revealed that Chukwuemeka – and Ben Chilwell – are free to leave the club. He said: “There are players that unfortunately didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions, like Chilwell, like Carney.
“Probably they’re the first that will want to leave because they work every day because they want to play,” added Maresca. “If they don’t play probably they are thinking to leave. Each player has a different situation so we’ll see if anyone knocks the door and says I want to leave. We’ll try to find a solution.”
Chelsea signed Chukwuemkea from Aston Villa for around £20m in August 2022, penning a six-year contract. Upon his arrival at Cobham training ground, he expressed his delight at joining the Blues.
“It’s been quite hectic but I couldn’t get Chelsea out of my head the last few days so I’m just happy and relieved that it’s all done,” said the midfielder in an interview with club media. “I’m so excited and just can’t wait to get on the pitch, meet all the players and try to win games and trophies with Chelsea.”
Meanwhile, Todd Boehly branded Chukwuemeka as ‘one of the most exciting young players in Europe’. The Chelsea co-owner said: “Carney is one of the most exciting young players in Europe so we are really looking forward to seeing him in action at Stamford Bridge.
“We are delighted to be able to bring him to Chelsea and add such a talented young individual to our squad for the new season and beyond.”
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