Ben Chilwell will return to action for Chelsea against League Two Barrow – after the club failed to offload £200,000-a-week outcast, manager Enzo Maresca confirms

Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Ben Chilwell will be in Chelsea’s squad for their Carabao Cup third round clash with Barrow, making Chilwell a first-team regular.

The England defender was relegated to the ‘bomb squad’ in the summer as he looked set to leave the Blues after four years at the club.

However, after a move from Stamford Bridge fell through, Chilwell remained at Chelsea and was invited back to train with the first team last week.

The former Blues vice-captain has yet to feature under Maresca this season but could see his first minutes of the campaign, like many others, on Tuesday night when Chelsea take on League Two side Barrow.

“They (players like Chilwell) are the ones who are in the squad against Barrow,” Maresca told the media during his pre-match press conference.

Ben Chilwell will play League Two Barrow in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night

Enzo Maresca confirmed to the media that many outsiders could play against the Bluebirds

Chilwell was allowed to return to first-team training last week after previously being banned

Chilwell and Enzo Maresca appear to have put their problems behind them as they joked

‘We’ll see some of them if they start, but if they don’t they’ll all be on the bench and hopefully we can give them some minutes.’

Chilwell last started for Chelsea in March under Mauricio Pochettino in a 2-2 draw away to Brentford.

Last season, in which Chelsea finished sixth and the campaign was plagued by injuries, he made just nine Premier League appearances for the Argentine.

Although he has not yet been named in the matchday squad this season, Chilwell was included in Chelsea’s Premier League squad, which was submitted in early September.

Only last month, Maresca announced that it would be better for Chilwell not to stake his future at Stamford Bridge.

“Chilly is with us but he hasn’t trained in the last few days because he was sick,” Maresca said ahead of his club’s Premier League defeat to Manchester City.

‘The reason he didn’t play (in a pre-season friendly) against Inter is that Chilly, although I think he’s great, struggles to find the right position.’

However, when it became clear that Chilwell would remain at the club until at least January, Maresca revealed to the press that Chilwell could potentially revive his career at Chelsea after all.

Chilwell’s last start for Chelsea was against Brentford in the Premier League in March

“Ben is the only one (of the exiled group) left now, so we will probably sit down with him and find a solution,” Maresca said ahead of their win over West Ham.

“The reason he’s training separately is because he was supposed to leave. But because we couldn’t find a solution, he’s here and he’ll probably train with us. We have to decide that. If we decide that, he’ll be one of our players.”

Chelsea have won their last two games in a row as confidence grows under the Italian coach, with Marc Cucurella trusted to take on the role of left-back.