OFFICIAL: Champions League winner joins Strasbourg after 83 starts for Chelsea | OneFootball

Ladies and gentlemen, Ben Chilwell has left the building.

The Chelsea left back has completed a transfer to sister club Strasbourg just before the deadline, ending a five year stay at Stamford Bridge.

Chilwell’s mixed Chelsea legacy

Ben Chilwell joins Strasbourg says Fabrizio Romano.

The terms of the deal aren’t clear – we suspect that the transfer fee is nominal at best, and that Chelsea are paying the majority of his £300,000 a week wages. In the end, this is a deal to give a good player to our sister club, who can benefit from having him, rather than a money maker for Chelsea.

Chilwell was a vital part of the Thomas Tuchel team that won the Champions League and for a brief time established itself as among the best in Europe. Sadly endless injuries ruined his time at the club, striking after his first season and never leaving him alone after that.

A year ago Enzo Maresca arrived as the new manager and decided that Chilwell wasn’t his type of player anyway, so the 12 months since have seen him condemned to the “bomb squad,” apart from a 6 month loan to Crystal Palace.

Chilwell has since kept his head down and been a consummate professional, but it’s all been quite an untidy end to what could have been a great Chelsea career.

Chilwell leaves Chelsea with great legacy tinged with sadness

Ultimately it seems quite incredible that Chilwell started just 83 games for Chelsea. Even taking into account the injuries and last year’s freeze out, his impact in winning trophies and his importance in the best team we’ve had since we last won the title makes it feel like he played a lot more than that.

It’s been a sorry year for him, and we desperately hope that his body has taken advantage of this break from regular action and he can now play regularly in France.

Good luck Ben, and thanks for all the trophies!