Chelsea outcast pictured smiling alongside Enzo Maresca in training just weeks after exile

Ben Chilwell has returned to first-team training with Chelsea after being banished by Enzo Maresca – pictured smiling alongside Blues head coach.

Maresca made it clear under no uncertain terms Chilwell was not part of his plans at Stamford Bridge, urging him to leave the club before the summer transfer window closed.

‘With Chilly it is quite clear, even though I love the way he is, the problem is he is struggling a bit to find the right position,’ Maresca said last month.

‘I need to make a decision and probably it is better to leave and go and get minutes.’

Chilwell was forced to train away from the first-team, along with the rest of Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’.

While Raheem Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah were able to find new clubs having also been told their time was up under Maresca, a move for Chilwell never materialised.

There were signs of hope for the left-back when he was included in Chelsea’s Premier League squad for the 2024-25 campaign.

A truce between player and head coach now appears to have been reached with Chilwell pictured back in training on Monday.

Images show the former Leicester City star smiling and laughing with Maresca during one session.

While he was not included in Chelsea’s Conference League squad submitted to Uefa earlier this month, Chilwell will hope recent developments open a route back into the first-team.

The 27-year-old is available for Premier League games and is also eligible to feature in the Carabao Cup, with his side in third round action against Barrow next week.

‘The reason why he’s training apart is because the idea was for him to leave but because we didn’t find a solution he’s probably going to start to train with us, we need to decide that,’ Maresca said last week.

‘In the moment if we decide that, he will be one of the players.’

Asked how Chilwell is mentally, Maresca replied: ‘I think he’s good, to be honest. As I said, he’s not training with us, but I can see, I saw him this morning, he is okay.’

Marc Cucurella, whose own Chelsea future looked in real doubt just a year ago, is now Maresca’s clear first choice at left-back.

Renato Veiga, a summer signing from FC Basel, has provided cover off the bench, also stepping into a defensive midfield role against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Chilwell’s long-term future is still likely to lie away from west London with Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town named as two clubs who could make a move in January.