Yeah it's diabolical. Still only 28, more than capable for us or any other team. We spent last season without a backup to Cucurella, that could have been a disaster. There's no logical reason to freeze him out, other than ownership wanting to force him out because of salary/not wanting Roman signings. Even more weird that we extended his contract for two years, he could have been leaving for free this summer to jump start his career.

3 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Yeah it's diabolical. Still only 28, more than capable for us or any other team. We spent last season without a backup to Cucurella, that could have been a disaster. There's no logical reason to freeze him out, other than ownership wanting to force him out because of salary/not wanting Roman signings. Even more weird that we extended his contract for two years, he could have been leaving for free this summer to jump start his career.

Wasn't it that Maresca didn't want him because he couldn't invert? Either way, it's a ridiculous waste of his talent.

13 minutes ago, dermott said:

Wasn't it that Maresca didn't want him because he couldn't invert? Either way, it's a ridiculous waste of his talent.

Poch started the downfall with the ridiculous notion that he couldn't play LB anymore.

He should leave. I agree treated badly - but he is clearly not in the clubs plans, so man up, take it on the chin and leave. Take a pay cut if necesarry. He is 28, and has 4-5 yrs left of his playing career. Dont waste it by being an outcast, albeit a well paid one. Have some professional pride, take the moral highground and leave.

Or just go out on loan for the next two years with the club paying half his wages.

55 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Or just go out on loan for the next two years with the club paying half his wages.

Yep - knocking around on loan without a proper home, not wanted by his club, but getting wages subsidised by the club that got him a champions league winners medal.

Doesn’t sit well with me.

Again - I agree he has been treated badly, and also agree that he is good enough to have a role in our squad. But in the game of life, sh*t sometimes happens.

Honestly, he should take a paycut and sign for a club like Everton and play with his best friend.

He should at least fight for a place in the WC

2 minutes ago, Deino said:

Honestly, he should take a paycut and sign for a club like Everton and play with his best friend.

He should at least fight for a place in the WC

I don't get this notion. Maybe he would need to accept dropping around 3 quarters of his salary to make a change. Would any of us drop our income by 3 quarters? Don't think so.

They signed the contracts they are on (chilwell and sterling) with blue Co not Roman even, they are entitled to the pay.

We could make it simple. They arrange moves and we pay the difference in their income for the next 2 years. Done. That is the right thing to do. They are not lukaku, they have been professional.

1 minute ago, axman2526 said:

I don't get this notion. Maybe he would need to accept dropping around 3 quarters of his salary to make a change. Would any of us drop our income by 3 quarters? Don't think so.

They signed the contracts they are on (chilwell and sterling) with blue Co not Roman even, they are entitled to the pay.

We could make it simple. They arrange moves and we pay the difference in their income for the next 2 years. Done. That is the right thing to do. They are not lukaku, they have been professional.

Doesn't matter really when they're already multimillionaires. As if people even in normal jobs don't jump companies for lower pay for mental health/personal reasons

Whatever way works.

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

He should leave. I agree treated badly - but he is clearly not in the clubs plans, so man up, take it on the chin and leave. Take a pay cut if necesarry. He is 28, and has 4-5 yrs left of his playing career. Dont waste it by being an outcast, albeit a well paid one. Have some professional pride, take the moral highground and leave.

You're essentially asking him to leave £10.4m on the table were he to leave for a club that would half his current wage.

Maybe he's realized that given his injuries, 2021 was his peak. See out his contract and move to Italy when he's 30. That's what I would do.

31 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

You're essentially asking him to leave £10.4m on the table were he to leave for a club that would half his current wage.

Maybe he's realized that given his injuries, 2021 was his peak. See out his contract and move to Italy when he's 30. That's what I would do.

I am with @Deino on this. At some point, a footballer has to ask themselves what they want their careers to be remembered for...

Yes, Chelsea handed Chilwell and Sterling big contracts, but hiding behind the deal and sitting out the last years of your prime isn’t much of a legacy. Football careers are short, brutally so, and the chance to play regularly at a high level doesn’t last forever. When they’re older and telling their grandchildren about their careers, what’s going to sound better — that they were out on the pitch competing, fighting/contributing, and making a difference, or that they sat at a club that didn’t want them anymore because it was financially convenient?

The argument about losing £10m in wages doesn’t really stand up when you consider the context. Both are already multimillionaires many times over, and would continue to earn eye-watering salaries elsewhere. Even if they took £60-£80k a week, it is still an extraordinary wage by any measure. Giving up a fraction of their fortune in order to keep playing, to stay relevant, and to preserve some professional pride should mean more than clinging to every last penny. A career in football isn’t remembered through bank statements. It’s remembered in appearances, medals, goals and game changing contributions.

If they choose to stay put purely for the money, then fine - that is their right. But they reduce themselves from ambitious athletes into mercenarys collecting a cheque. The more admirable path is to seek out a club that values them, even if it means a pay cut. Pride, purpose and legacy are worth more in the long run than sitting on the sidelines padding out an already swollen bank account.

49 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

You're essentially asking him to leave £10.4m on the table were he to leave for a club that would half his current wage.

Maybe he's realized that given his injuries, 2021 was his peak. See out his contract and move to Italy when he's 30. That's what I would do.

He's already a multimillionaire and he's young with agents whispering in his ear. What's the point of sitting out for an extra 10M when you can earn those 10M faster through bonuses and whatnot.

I personally go to work to make the most money as possible, i imagine someone with a 15 year career does the same. Anyone saying take a pay cut wouldn't take their own advice if they were in that position.

11 minutes ago, Deino said:

What's the point of sitting out for an extra 10M when you can earn those 10M faster through bonuses and whatnot.

Hmmmm.

An additional £10.4m guaranteed in 2 years, or relying on fools hope that some imaginary club will come out of nowhere and be daft enough to offer me £10m in bonuses before 2 years.

Decisions decisions.

26 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

I am with @Deino on this. At some point, a footballer has to ask themselves what they want their careers to be remembered for...

Yes, Chelsea handed Chilwell and Sterling big contracts, but hiding behind the deal and sitting out the last years of your prime isn’t much of a legacy. Football careers are short, brutally so, and the chance to play regularly at a high level doesn’t last forever. When they’re older and telling their grandchildren about their careers, what’s going to sound better — that they were out on the pitch competing, fighting/contributing, and making a difference, or that they sat at a club that didn’t want them anymore because it was financially convenient?

The argument about losing £10m in wages doesn’t really stand up when you consider the context. Both are already multimillionaires many times over, and would continue to earn eye-watering salaries elsewhere. Even if they took £60-£80k a week, it is still an extraordinary wage by any measure. Giving up a fraction of their fortune in order to keep playing, to stay relevant, and to preserve some professional pride should mean more than clinging to every last penny. A career in football isn’t remembered through bank statements. It’s remembered in appearances, medals, goals and game changing contributions.

If they choose to stay put purely for the money, then fine - that is their right. But they reduce themselves from ambitious athletes into mercenarys collecting a cheque. The more admirable path is to seek out a club that values them, even if it means a pay cut. Pride, purpose and legacy are worth more in the long run than sitting on the sidelines padding out an already swollen bank account.

Yeah Chilwell should just forgive his additional £10.4 million f**king pounds because Jim says he'll be a better person.

2 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Yeah Chilwell should just forgive his additional £10.4 million f**king pounds because Jim says he'll be a better person.

No - he should do it not because I say, but so he can play football again with some regularity.

1 minute ago, nonotnowjim said:

No - he should do it not because I say, but so he can play football again with some regularity.

Didn't realize he'd going on loan to not play regularly.

10 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

I personally go to work to make the most money as possible, i imagine someone with a 15 year career does the same. Anyone saying take a pay cut wouldn't take their own advice if they were in that position.

Difficult to draw comparisons between posters on here, most of whom (I assume) have "normal" careers, and an already multi millionaire who will continue to earn significant sums (more than most earn in a year) every week, even IF he took a paycut.

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

Didn't realize he'd going on loan to not play regularly.

254 league minutes whilst out on loan last season. Not even 3 games worth.

8 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Difficult to draw comparisons between posters on here, most of whom (I assume) have "normal" careers, and an already multi millionaire who will continue to earn significant sums (more than most earn in a year) every week, even IF he took a paycut.

probably not a good comparison 😉

13 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Hmmmm.

An additional £10.4m guaranteed in 2 years, or relying on fools hope that some imaginary club will come out of nowhere and be daft enough to offer me £10m in bonuses before 2 years.

Decisions decisions.

Yeah Chilwell should just forgive his additional £10.4 million f**king pounds because Jim says he'll be a better person.

He'll be remembered as a Champions league, FA Cup and league title and won England caps. Most would call that a top career. They guy turns up, trains every day, plays football, goes home to his model wife, in his mansion he owns outright probably driving a supercar. Unless he likes to flutter at high stakes casions - the 10 million the club owe him via his contract will set him up for the rest of his life, or pay for his divorce. He's had career threatening injuries, and can put his feet up and sit out his contract at one of the top clubs in Europe. OR, TBH, Chilwell is the model pro and CFC, who offered him a new contract, are unprofessional in how theyve treated him. The fact a manager like Maresca cant put his foot down and say he wants a highly experienced player like him in the team also points to an interfering board. He should have been used by us, might have saved us a fortune. Remember, when he and james were fully fit, we were a seriously impressive attacking unit under Tuchel. Their injuries finished him as our manager.

5 hours ago, dermott said:

Wasn't it that Maresca didn't want him because he couldn't invert? Either way, it's a ridiculous waste of his talent.

He also said Chalobah couldn't play the system. This was the owners / directors trying to force Chalobah out of the club. We can prove this after we came crawling back, ended Chalobah's loan and Maresca admitting that we let him go because of PSR.

He said Sanchez was his number 1 before having a single training session. This is because the owners / directors didn't want to sign a new permanent goalkeeper, not because Sanchez was good enough for the role.

He said Chukwuemeka needed to go out on loan because there wasn't a spot in the squad for him. This was before we signed Felix.

Everything Maresca said at the start of last season was to appease the owners and directors, not what he personally believed himself. One of the reasons why I have never taken to Maresca is because he lied to our faces on day 1.

4 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

He'll be remembered as a Champions league, FA Cup and league title and won England caps. Most would call that a top career. They guy turns up, trains every day, plays football, goes home to his model wife, in his mansion he owns outright probably driving a supercar. Unless he likes to flutter at high stakes casions - the 10 million the club owe him via his contract will set him up for the rest of his life, or pay for his divorce. He's had career threatening injuries, and can put his feet up and sit out his contract at one of the top clubs in Europe. OR, TBH, Chilwell is the model pro and CFC, who offered him a new contract, are unprofessional in how theyve treated him. The fact a manager like Maresca cant put his foot down and say he wants a highly experienced player like him in the team also points to an interfering board. He should have been used by us, might have saved us a fortune. Remember, when he and james were fully fit, we were a seriously impressive attacking unit under Tuchel. Their injuries finished him as our manager.

Exactly my point. Chilly has achieved plenty, he’s financially secure for life, and he’s not some journeyman scraping around for one last payday. Which is why the idea that he should sit out the last years of his peak purely to maximise the pennies in his bank account feels so hollow.

You say he can “put his feet up” and wait for the money. That might be true, but what’s the pride in that? What does he add to his story as a professional footballer by being a passenger? He’ll never get these playing years back. When he looks back on his career, the memories and appearances, or like a mercenary, the extra zeroes in the bank?

30 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Difficult to draw comparisons between posters on here, most of whom (I assume) have "normal" careers, and an already multi millionaire who will continue to earn significant sums (more than most earn in a year) every week, even IF he took a paycut.

Not gonna lie, I've never liked it when people try and compare a normal person not taking a pay cut to a multi millionaire who already has multiple generations of wealth. I've also seen people say "football careers are short" like they think they go from 100k+ a week to nothing the instant they retire. When these players retire, they will still make more money in a year than we would in 10.

I'm somebody from a poor background, so I will never be able to sympathise with a footballer for not taking a pay cut. Doesn't matter what kind of logic people try and throw at me, you can never get me to look at it from that point of view. Just 1% of Chilwell's weekly wage would be life changing for the average person living in the UK. So when I look at somebody in Chilwell's position, refusing to continue a dream job because his generational wealth will be cut to slightly less generational wealth......well, sorry, but I will never have any sympathy for that position.

I feel sorry for him being frozen out of the squad and being forced out of the club, but when it comes to money, not a single bit.

11 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Not gonna lie, I've never liked it when people try and compare a normal person not taking a pay cut to a multi millionaire who already has multiple generations of wealth. I've also seen people say "football careers are short" like they think they go from 100k+ a week to nothing the instant they retire. When these players retire, they will still make more money in a year than we would in 10.

I'm somebody from a poor background, so I will never be able to sympathise with a footballer for not taking a pay cut. Doesn't matter what kind of logic people try and throw at me, you can never get me to look at it from that point of view. Just 1% of Chilwell's weekly wage would be life changing for the average person living in the UK. So when I look at somebody in Chilwell's position, refusing to continue a dream job because his generational wealth will be cut to slightly less generational wealth......well, sorry, but I will never have any sympathy for that position.

I feel sorry for him being frozen out of the squad and being forced out of the club, but when it comes to money, not a single bit.

100% agree

Ahhh, all this fab advice and opinion on what someone 'should" do, not knowing him personally, not knowing his mind, not knowing what's going on behind the scenes 😁 You gotta love this forum!