Chelsea’s Surprising Reversal on Trevoh Chalobah’s Future

According to reports, Chelsea is said to have a plan to keep defender Trevoh Chalobah on their roster for the 2023-24 season.

Since Mauricio Pochettino took charge as head coach, the Blues have offloaded experienced players Cesar Azpilicueta and Kalidou Koulibaly, who played as a right-back and centre-back, respectively.

With the promotion of Levi Colwill to the senior squad following his impressive loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion, he has effectively taken Koulibaly’s position in the first-team ranks.

This development has raised doubts about Chalobah’s future, despite the fact that the academy graduate has proven to be a valuable option for several managers.

Chalobah made a noteworthy 33 appearances in various competitions last season, with 25 of those coming in the Premier League. However, some of his outings were in a back three or as a right-back.

Under Pochettino’s leadership, Chelsea will begin the upcoming season with a back four formation, which could potentially limit Chalobah’s playing time, especially since Chelsea won’t be participating in European competitions this season.

Nevertheless, the Evening Standard reports that Chelsea has now expressed little interest in parting ways with the 24-year-old defender ahead of the upcoming campaign.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Wesley Fofana suffered a serious knee injury during training, requiring reconstructive ACL surgery. As a result, the French international will be sidelined for the remainder of 2023 and may miss the entire season if Chelsea decides against rushing his recovery from another knee issue.

In the short term, Bashir Humphreys is next in line to be promoted to the first-team setup. He has joined the rest of the squad for their five friendly matches in the United States.

From Chalobah’s perspective, he is currently seen as the third-choice defender, as Benoit Badiashile is also unavailable for Chelsea’s pre-season fixtures due to injury.

Furthermore, Colwill recently concluded his participation with England’s Under-21 national team, and it is expected that he will miss the opening matches of the summer schedule as well.

Chalobah has amassed a total of 63 appearances for Chelsea over the past two seasons, contributing four goals and one assist to the team’s efforts.