'It's better to leave' - Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca breaks Chukwuemeka's heart

The 20-year-old winger joined the Blues in 2022 for a fee worth £20 million from Aston Villa under the regime of Mauricio Pochettino.

However, he has struggled for minutes and has yet to meet expectations under new manager Maresca.

He has only made one appearance for the team this year, in the Carabao Cup game with Barrow.

Maresca has acknowledged that, rather than remaining and battling for his spot in the Premier League, he would have preferred the young player to leave Stamford Bridge and play more games. 

According to Goal, the Italian coach 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 play 30 or 35 games than be 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."

Meanwhile, Chelsea have been in good form in their last couple of games, having defeated Brighton 4-2 on Saturday.

Blues star player Cole Palmer scored four goals in the first half, setting a new Premier League record.

The London team's next game is a Europa League match against Gent at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.