Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has suggested that conversations will be held over the future of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The Blues paid £30m to reunite the midfielder with his former Leicester City boss Maresca at Stamford Bridge during the summer.
However, the Englishman has featured for just 55 minutes in the Premier League, his action instead largely restricted to the cup competitions where he has made eight appearances in the EFL Cup and Conference League.
Dewsbury-Hall netted Chelsea's third as the Premier League side cruised past Shamrock Rovers in the latter of those competitions on Thursday night.
Nevertheless, speaking after the game, Maresca acknowledged that there may be some truth in recent speculation regarding the 26-year-old's future.
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Decision down to Dewsbury-Hall?
When quizzed on whether Dewsbury-Hall would see out the season with Chelsea, Maresca hinted that the player would be left with the final decision.
The Italian said, as quoted by football.london: "I cannot say that, not about Kiernan, about all the squad, because when the transfer window is open, unfortunately anything can happen.
"So I'm not focused on January, the only thing I can say about Kiernan is that we are very happy in the way he's working, we are very happy about his performance, and this is my thought about Kiernan."
He added: "We don't want one of our players to leave, the problem is that sometimes the question is more for them, that if they say, OK, you don't want me to leave, but I'm not happy, I want to play more.
"So in that case, we are not going to say, no, you have to stay, yes or yes. It's a matter of agreement between the club and the player, the only thing I can say is that we are happy with Kiernan, then we'll see."
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Who does Dewsbury-Hall have in his way?
Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez are the standout top three central-midfielders in the eyes of Maresca.
Dewsbury-Hall is effectively fourth choice, yet Renato Veiga, Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka are all capable of deputising when required.
Maresca may be left with a decision over who to allow to leave on loan out of Dewsbury-Hall and Casadei, who is allegedly attracting interest from Serie A.
Darren Plant
