FOOTBALL

Chilwell out to ‘prove Chelsea wrong’ and make World Cup squad

ovanews 11 months ago 2 min read

Ben Chilwell has revealed he has spoken with Thomas Tuchel about being part of the England squad for next summer’s World Cup.

Chilwell is currently on loan at French side Strasbourg from Chelsea, after being deemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.

The 28-year-old endured an injury-hit time at Chelsea, but is a player well known to England manager Tuchel, after winning the Champions League under his management in 2021.

Left-back is an area of the pitch that looks open for England and Chilwell, who has 21 caps for the Three Lions, has not ruled out a late push for the World Cup.

He has made eight appearances in Ligue 1 this season and will face Crystal Palace – where he spent the second half of last season on loan and won the FA Cup – in the Europa Conference League tomorrow.

Ahead of that clash, he opened up on a desire to prove a point to Chelsea and conversations he has had with Tuchel about his World Cup chances.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “What a story it would be if I went to the World Cup after I was in the [Chelsea] bomb squad and everyone had counted me out 12 months prior.

“It would just be the biggest middle finger to so many people, which to me is a motivation. Chelsea were honest with me and there’s no resentment, but of course I’ve got an ego, so it would be a nice feeling to prove some people wrong.

“Probably 99 out of 100 people are saying, ‘No, he’s not going, and it is impossible to go to the World Cup’. We’ve (Chilwell and Tuchel) had conversations since he’s got the job at England. I’ll try and word it right – it has been said that it’s not out of the equation.”

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