Axed ‘bomb squad’ star named ‘most underrated’ Chelsea player amid Newcastle, Tottenham links

An axed Chelsea first-team player who looks certain to be moved on before Friday’s transfer deadline has been named the club’s ‘most underrated player’ by another top star tipped to make an exit.

The Stamford Bridge outfit have put a number of players up for sale, with the media labelling the high-profile group of stars expected to leave as the ‘bomb squad’.

Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ben Chilwell and Trevoh Chalobah are all either on the brink of leaving or facing up to the possibility of not playing for Enzo Maresca if they fail to move on by Friday.

However, Chilwell appears to suggest that Chelsea could be making a big mistake but letting centre-back go, judging by his comments about his teammate.

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The 25-year-old joined Chelsea at the age of eight and has made 80 appearances for the first-team, featuring heavily for the Blues over the past three seasons. However, he has been deemed surplus to requirements by new Maresca, who is currently juggling a large pool of players after another busy summer of additions in west London.

Chalobah was, in fact, one of the first members of the ‘bomb squad’ after being banished from training at the start of the month, with the likes of Newcastle, Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Bayern Munich all showing an interest in his signature.

Chilwell seemingly surprised by Chalobah situation

And, when asked who he views as the most underrated player at Stamford Bridge, Chilwell told Fubo: “I personally just love watching Trev play.

“I think he’s a brilliant athlete, he’s good on the ball, he’s Chelsea through and through.

“I personally think Trev’s the most underrated player. He’s the one that comes to mind.”

Maresca did admit that axing Chalobah from Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States was a ‘sad decision’, although the Blues boss has had to be ruthless given the sheer number of players currently at his disposal.

“First of all, from my point of view, it’s always sad to leave players out,” the former Leicester City boss said.

“That can be out of a pre-season, or can be out of the squad or out of the first eleven because in the end they all work for the same target, that is to be part of the same team.

“The Trevoh situation for me is quite clear, we have Axel [Disasi] there, we have Tosin [Adarabioyo] there, we have Wes [Fofana] who in these two weeks has worked very good and is finally back, we have some very young profiles like Josh Acheampong who is doing fantastic.

“It’s a sad decision but we have to take the decision.”

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Chilwell, meanwhile, is also part of Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’, although the England left-back may still end up at Stamford Bridge beyond Friday’s deadline after a lack of concrete interest in his signature so far.

Manchester United have been linked with a move for the 27-year-old due to Luke Shaw’s inability to get on the pitch on a regular basis, but they are not expected to make an approach before the deadline.