By Ashton Cox
Chelsea have indicated that they will only accept offers in excess of £40 million for Carney Chukwuemeka to leave Stamford Bridge this January.
The 21-year-old has become nothing more than a fringe player under Enzo Maresca’s management, having started just once and being substituted in four more times.
To make matters worse, the former Aston Villa youth player is yet to make a single Premier League matchday squad despite being unavailable on only three occasions.
As a result, Chelsea are looking to profit on the man they bought for a reported £20 million fee in 2022.
Maresca warned of Chukwuemeka’s limited playing time back in September: “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 else.”
West Ham United, Borussia Dortmund and a return to Aston Villa are the most likely destinations for the midfielder this window, whilst a loan deal remains on the cards should a permanent sale fail to materialise.
Chelsea’s sister-side RC Strasbourg is a likely loan move as the Blues will be hoping that Chukwuemeka flourishes in the same way Andrey Santos has on loan at the French side this season, the Brazilian winning Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Month on multiple occasions.
However, a loan move there would only be possible if Chelsea recall either one of Santos, Djordje Petrovic or Caleb Wiley from Strasbourg due to limitations per the loan market rules.