Enzo Maresca says Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are likely to be the first Chelsea players to ask to leave in January due to their lack of playing time.
England left-back Chilwell has made just one appearance this season which came as a half-time substitute in a 5-0 victory over Barrow in the Carabao Cup.
The 27-year-old was training separately at the start of the season as he looked for a move away from the club but that failed to materialise and he has since been part of first-team training.
Meanwhile, Chukwuemeka has predominately featured in the Conference League, starting once in the competition and coming off the bench on three occasions.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Everton on Sunday, Maresca said: “There are players that unfortunately didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions like (Ben) Chilwell, like Carney (Chukwuemeka).
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“Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games and if they don’t play games probably they are thinking of leaving.
“Each player is a bit different situation, so we’re going to see if some of them are coming and knocking on the door to say ‘I want to leave’ or something like that. We will try to find a solution.”
Maresca has encouraged his Chelsea youngsters to stay around the first team but hasn’t ruled out striker Marc Guiu, who scored a hat-trick in the club’s 5-1 victory over Shamrock Rovers on Thursday night, heading out on loan in January.
“I think with young players like Marc (Guiu), like Josh (Acheampong), like Ty (Tyrique George), for me the best thing for them is to be with us,” said Maresca.
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“They can understand every day the way we want to play, they can grow, we can teach them how we want them to play, so I think it’s better if they stay with us.
“Then it depends a little bit also on the desire of the players. If, in this case, Marc’s desire is to get more minutes and to play more, we sit with him and we decide together.”
