Chelsea defender expected to leave Stamford Bridge in January

Chelsea return to action when they welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. 

The Blues have started the new season poorly, winning just one of their five Premier League matches so far to leave them 14th in the table.

New manager Mauricio Pochettino cut a visibly frustrated figure as his side were held to a goalless draw against Bournemouth last time out, and the Argentine will be expecting to see an improved performance this time around.

The former Tottenham Hotspur boss could make changes to his side ahead of the visit of the Villans, however he was handed a blow this week as defender Benoit Badiashile suffered an injury setback on his return to training.

Despite this, it appears that another of the Blues’ central defenders is likely to leave the club when the transfer window reopens in January.

As per Fabrizio Romano, centre-back Trevoh Chalobah is expected to leave Stamford Bridge in the new year, despite Pochettino insisting that the player hasn’t been ‘frozen out’ of his squad.

Chalobah is expected to leave Chelsea in January

Chalobah, 24, is one of several Chelsea academy products to have graduated into the first team in recent seasons, but he has fallen out of favour over the past year and was close to leaving the club during the recent summer transfer window.

Romano claims that the Englishman was keen to reunite with former manager Thomas Tuchel at German club Bayern Munich, but the move never materialised.

He is also said to have rejected the chance to join fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest in the closing stages of the transfer window.

In total Chalobah has made 63 appearances for Chelsea across all competitions, including 45 games in the Premier League.

The centre-back hasn’t featured for Chelsea so far this season due to injury, but he made 33 appearances across all competitions last term.