Napoli ready to hijack Man Utd plan to sign forgotten Chelsea star in January

Manchester United’s attempts to sign Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell in January could be derailed by Napoli and the prospect of joining Antonio Conte’s table-topping side, according to a report.

Transfer insider Rudy Galetti recently brought news of Man Utd sizing up Chilwell in the upcoming winter window. The left-back position has proven troublesome for Erik ten Hag of late, with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia often sidelined through injury.

Chelsea fully intend to offload Chilwell having failed to find a suitable exit solution over the summer. Sources told Galetti that Man Utd’s interest is concrete and the club believe they stand a good chance of securing a deal.

But according to a fresh update from The Sun, Man Utd’s plans could be derailed by Napoli.

Antonio Conte’s side – who signed Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku from Premier League sides last summer – are ‘tracking’ Chilwell.

The appeal of joining a side competing for a league title is an obvious one and The Sun stated a loan that contains an option/obligation to buy is the likeliest outcome if Chilwell departs.

Chilwell will have other options aside from Man Utd if he’s determined to stay in England. Fulham, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town are also hovering over Chilwell who is seeking regular minutes to re-launch his stuttering career.

It is our understanding that Chilwell’s preference would be to remain in the Premier League if given the option.

READ MORE: The key contract details of every Chelsea first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…

Game over for Chilwell at Chelsea

Chilwell forms part of what has been unofficially described as Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad.’

That relates to several Blues stars manager Enzo Maresca had zero intention of using. The bulk of those players – such as Trevoh Chalobah (Crystal Palace – loan), Raheem Sterling (Arsenal – loan) etc – did find new clubs before the summer window closed.

Chilwell was among the exceptions and remaining at Stamford Bridge has done his career no favours. He’s made just a single appearance this season – a 45-minute cameo in an EFL Cup clash with Barrow.

Marc Cucurella is Maresca’s first choice in Chilwell’s position. Summer signing Renato Veiga has made a bright start to life in the capital, while Levi Colwill can also cover at left-back if absolutely necessary, though he’s since made it clear he much prefers playing centrally.

“Last year I played in a position that ain’t really mine and I struggled at times,” admitted Colwill during the current international break. “But this year [at centre-back] I feel much more confident.”

Chilwell is thus surplus to requirements and transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Chelsea aim to part ways with the 27-year-old at the earliest possible opportunity.

Romano reported earlier in October: “The plan remains to part ways in January with Chilwell expected to be one of the players set to leave Chelsea.”

Latest Chelsea transfer news

In other news, sensational reports in the Spanish press have claimed Guardiola has instructed Man City to re-sign Cole Palmer.

Elsewhere, Palmer’s Chelsea teammate Reece James will not be joining Barcelona or Benfica despite reports to the contrary.

Curious claims James’ camp had been shopping him to clubs that can offer warmer climates recently emerged. The logic there was the warmer weather would help James keep the injuries at bay. Per Give Me Sport, there is ‘zero substance’ to claims James is leaving Chelsea any time soon.

Finally, Caught Offside claim Chelsea are among SIX English sides looking into a deal for 20-year-old Bologna forward, Santiago Castro.

Per the report, Castro would prioritise signing with either Arsenal or Chelsea out of the six given the respective sizes of that pair.

How are Maresca’s unwanted players performing?

By Samuel Bannister

Chelsea managed to offload most of the players they didn’t want to keep this summer, but were still left with a few whose exits they had explored. How have those players been doing since?

Ben Chilwell

Maresca made no secret of the fact that it was deemed to be in Chilwell’s best interests to leave Chelsea over the summer. However, the left-back wouldn’t budge and was reinstated to the first team in mid-September, making his comeback in a Carabao Cup win over Barrow. It remains his only appearance for the first team this season, though.

Carney Chukwuemeka

Like Chilwell, Maresca publicly admitted he would have preferred for Chukwuemeka to leave in the summer, in his case due to competition in his position. And in another parallel with Chilwell, his only first-team appearance so far was against Barrow.

Deivid Washington

On deadline day, Washington seemed set to join fellow BlueCo side Strasbourg, either on loan or permanently, but neither move went through. His only first-team call-up since for Chelsea was for the Barrow game, but he remained on the bench. He recently represented Chelsea’s U21s in a league game against West Ham.

Noni Madueke

Chelsea considered letting Madueke go in the summer, 18 months after buying him, but he stayed put. He has enjoyed the biggest revival of any of their other could-be-castaways, scoring five goals from eight appearances so far this season, including a hat-trick against Wolves.

Cesare Casadei

Despite playing under Maresca last season while on loan at Leicester, Casadei faced an uncertain future this summer. After staying, he has made two full-90-minute appearances, against Barrow and then against Gent in the Conference League.