Ostracised Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell is apparently still hopeful of making the Blues' Premier League squad after failing to secure a summer exit.
The former Leicester City full-back was one of several players immediately cut from the first-team ranks under Enzo Maresca, who advised him to leave if he wanted to play regular football.
As a result, Chilwell has not been included in the matchday squads for Chelsea's first three Premier League games of the new season, but he did not manage to find a new club in the Premier League before the August 30 cut-off point.
English clubs have still been free to sell players to other leagues where the transfer windows have remained open for longer, most notably the Turkish Super Lig, where teams can bring in new faces until Friday.
Chelsea apparently offered Chilwell to four clubs in Turkey, but not one of them responded to the Blues' proposal, and The Telegraph now claims that a loan exit to the Super Lig is unlikely to materialise.
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Chilwell 'could be included' in Premier League squad
The 27-year-old will therefore remain in West London until the January transfer window at the earliest, and the report claims that there is a chance that he could be included in their Premier League squad, which must be submitted on Friday.
While some players have been kept away from the first team entirely, that has supposedly not been the case for Chilwell, who has trained with the main group of players when injuries and international call-ups have depleted Maresca's ranks.
However, when the Chelsea manager has had all of his regular players available, Chilwell has been practising with the other undesirables in the squad, and it is still not clear whether he could make a full-time return to the first team.
The defender's inclusion in the Premier League squad would help with Chelsea's home-grown quota, although he has already been omitted from their Europa Conference League squad, a decision which reportedly surprised him.
The Blues are supposedly sympathetic towards Chilwell's situation, having recognised that the left-back has been open to leaving and has also done nothing to the club to justify his brutal exile.
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Chilwell joined Chelsea from Leicester in 2020 in a deal that could fetch up to £50m, and the left-back has registered nine goals and 12 assists in 106 games for the Blues in all tournaments.
However, Chilwell has also been bedevilled by fitness problems during his four years at Stamford Bridge, missing a whopping 107 matches for club and country through injury or illness since arriving.
Could any other Chelsea players leave on Friday?
While Chilwell could still be handed a lifeline at Stamford Bridge, the Blues are expected to negotiate one departure in the coming hours, as David Datro Fofana is set to join Turkish side Goztepe SK on loan.
The striker was initially expected to move to AEK Athens, but negotiations with the Greek club fell through while the two parties were exchanging documents.
Ben Knapton
