Carney Chukwuemeka left Aston Villa and joined Chelsea for £20m in early August, earning himself a six-year contract. He had one year remaining on his deal at Villa and had no intention of extending his stay, so the Midlands outfit cashed in while he still had value.
Chukwuemeka was described by Chelsea’s chairman Todd Boehly as ‘one of the most exciting young players in Europe’. He intimated that the midfielder would be in or around the first-team squad this season too, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Chukwuemeka has yet to make an appearance in the senior squad and has amassed more minutes in the reserves. The England U19 international made the matchday squad once but didn’t get the nod from the bench and was dropped for the following game.
He was out of the matchday squad for Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Everton (August 6) and 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur (August 14) but was an unused substitute in the 3-0 defeat to Leeds United (August 21) and was out of the squad for the 2-1 win over Leicester City (August 27).
Chukwuemeka played in the U21s 3-0 defeat to Fulham (August 15) and 2-2 draw with Man City (August 26), so it doesn’t appear Thomas Tuchel believes he’s quite ready for the step up – Jorginho, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount, N’golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been preferred.
After leaving Villa due to a lack of playing time, things haven’t yet gone to plan for the 18-year-old.
