"He's not as young as he once was" - Ex-Premier League star names Chelsea player who needs to leave club soon

Former Chelsea star Celestine Babayaro believes it's time for Ben Chilwell to part ways with the club. The Nigerian insists that Chilwell must secure an exit in order to salvage his career.

Chilwell seemed headed for an exit from Stamford Bridge last summer after Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made it clear that the England international is not a part of his plans.

The Italian admitted that Chilwell would struggle for minutes if he stayed with the west Londoners, but a transfer away never materialized. Chilwell then returned to action in the Carabao Cup against Barrow in September, but he's not seen any game time since.

While admitting that he's a fan of the left-back, Babayaro believes his time at Chelsea must come to an end, highlighting Chilwell's injury issues. He said (via Metro):

"I love him – he’s actually one of my favorite left-backs. But he can’t seem to get himself fit. He’s the sort of person who I’m looking at, who probably needs to think about his career. You know, he’s not as young as he once was, so he’s got to be thinking, 'if I’m not getting games here, I need to move'."

"Apart from that, I don’t think anyone else will be thinking of leaving the club at this moment in time, because they’re pretty much all brand new signings. But, yeah, I just think Chilwell might be looking at his future, and thinking he needs to move on from the club."

Since joining Chelsea in 2020 from Leicester City, Chilwell has missed over 110 games for club and country through injury (via Transfermarkt).

Babayaro delivers verdict on Chelsea's appointment of Enzo Maresca at the start of the season

Babayaro has offered his two cents on the Blues' appointment of Enzo Maresca at the start of the season. He admitted that he was unconvinced of the Italian boss before the campaign began.

Babayaro felt Chelsea were all over the place, having seen so many different managers at the helm over the past few seasons, including Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino.

He said (via the aforementioned outlet's report):

"When Enzo Maresca took over, to be honest, I was one of those people whose eyebrows were raised at the appointment, because I didn’t know too much about him. Sacking a couple of managers, and then bringing in Maresca, I just thought “where the hell are we doing?”

However, Babayaro added that the former Leicester City boss eventually won him over. He said:

"But he seemed to find a way to get the team playing, and they looked like they were back in form."

"Maresca is a great coach, I think; a disciple of Pep Guardiola. He did really well with Leicester, bringing them back into the Premier League. I also spoke to a few of the Nigerian lads who played under him at Leicester, and they spoke very highly of him. I’m hopeful he can get the team going again."

Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table, four points behind Nottingham Forest (3rd) and Arsenal (2nd). They are 10 points behind league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.