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3 hours ago

After a difficult end to his time at Chelsea, Ben Chilwell is relaunching his career at French club Strasbourg - and eyeing an England recall to prove his doubters wrong.

The 28-year-old defender admits he has plenty of work to do if he is to make the plane for the 2026 World Cup.

But he says England boss Thomas Tuchel, who Chilwell won the Champions League with at Chelsea in 2021, has told him that his international hopes are not necessarily over.

Speaking before the visit of his former loan club Crystal Palace in the Conference League on Thursday, Chilwell told BBC Sport: "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."

Chilwell's problems began when he tore his cruciate ligament at the end of 2021. He then missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after tearing his hamstring, before falling out of favour at Chelsea when Enzo Maresca took over in 2024 - becoming one of those placed in the Blues' so-called 'bomb squad' of unwanted players.

"Probably 99 out of 100 people are saying, 'No, he's not going, and it is impossible to go to the World Cup'," he admitted, before adding he has spoken to Tuchel about his chances.

"We've 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."

Chilwell has reason to be positive after two injury-free years, and he is playing regularly again after joining Strasbourg - managed by former Hull City boss Liam Rosenior - on deadline day in September.

He has featured in all but two Ligue One matches, with the club fifth in the league and one of the favourites, alongside Palace, to win the Conference League.

Chilwell's decision to move between teams that belong to the same owners, the American BlueCo consortium, raised questions about whose choice it was.

But he insisted: "It was my decision. I had other clubs that had no links to Chelsea, and I chose to come here because of the conversation with the manager."

The alternative options were believed to be Everton and Palace, the latter being where he spent the second half of last season on loan but only started twice.

"Palace was tough because I loved the changing room," he added. "We won the FA Cup, the manager was amazing but obviously personally I went there to play.

"As soon as I went in they just kept winning so I couldn't knock on the manager's door [to ask why I wasn't playing]. I've lost a few cup finals so at least got that monkey off my back and was involved with a good group."

Choosing Strasbourg meant staying with the same ownership, which he says was not an issue.

He said: "My relationship with the owners has never been bad. They've always rang or messaged. They go to a lot of Strasbourg games, we're cool and we'll give each other a hug. The only thing you can ask for as a footballer is honesty.

"I've never had anything against Enzo Maresca. I told everyone how much I respected the fact that he was honest, because at least then I could just go, 'all right, cool, I'm not wanted'.

"Of course I wasn't happy with the decision - I didn't agree with it, but I respected it."

One of the reasons cited for Chilwell's exit was his unsuitability to Maresca's inverted full-back role.

"I definitely feel like I suffered from it," he admitted, but added: "I also completely knew I could have done the role.

"I played centre mid until I was 12 and even with Thomas [Tuchel], when we played in a back three, I was making runs into striker positions, or because Toni Rudiger liked to drive with the ball, I'd go inside. I was able to do it - I just didn't have the opportunity."

Chilwell said his spell in the bomb squad involved a "good level of training" with "seven or eight internationals", including Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix, but he said working with fewer players meant he didn't "sprint once" or "play 11 v 11" during his eight-week pre-season.

Fellow Englishman Rosenior has impressed since taking over at Strasbourg and is helping to relaunch Chilwell's career.

"It wasn't my top choice, but then I spoke to the manager. It was only a 10-minute call, and I rang my agent straight away after and said, 'Yes, let's get Strasbourg done,'" Chilwell explained.

"Liam said I'd be surprised how much I'd enjoy it. He still thought I could improve and said he would ask me to play certain roles I haven't played before, which has already started to happen.

"Then there's the leadership side of it. I've been in changing rooms with serial winners and know how to be in a group that wins stuff. It just seemed like a no-brainer and a pretty perfect fit.

"I'm definitely shocked at the quality. There are a lot of people going straight to the top here, and I include the manager in that. The league is good and the stadiums are full.

"We've shown we can compete with PSG and the manager has big ambitions to win stuff this season and qualify for the Champions League."

Chilwell is fulfilling a dream to play overseas, but it didn't stop his mum worrying about the move - a person who has only grown in importance to Chilwell since he lost his father Wayne in 2023.

"He is the reason that I am where I am," he continued. "I've got to thank him for everything. The silver lining is it made me, my mum and my sister closer. I am more resilient and level-headed about football."

Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake bought Strasbourg for £65m in 2023, Chilwell is their oldest outfield signing, in what is now Europe's youngest squad in the top five leagues.

One of his lessons involves warnings about the pitfalls of social media: "I tell the young players to trust me that it's not a good path to go down. I don't have access to my Twitter or my Instagram - I let my agent do it.

"When I was younger, I'd scroll through Twitter to find that one bad comment and focus on that despite 50 good comments. I probably got told when I was younger and still kept doing it, but one day you just say, 'I'm not doing that anymore.'"

Chilwell is learning French, even though all but two players in the squad speak English, and reeled off the fact that Strasbourg's cathedral was the world's biggest building until 1874. He also feels mature enough to live overseas without the help of friends or family, and this adventure appears to have lit a fire in him.

"I've had days where I've said to my mum, 'I've won almost everything, I've played for my country, what's the point in going through all these ups and downs? Like, what's the point?'

"She said, 'Because of that feeling when you walk on the pitch,' and I knew that anyway, but coming to Strasbourg has completely brought that back - the excitement to go into training and play.

"I was just falling out of love with football because I'd not played - now it's 60,000 mad fans at Lyon. I've been injury-free for two years and just needed an opportunity."

He added: "It makes me laugh that people think I'm an old player at 28 - I'm really in my prime. That's why the World Cup is an ambition… there's so much to achieve.

"First things first, I want to play well here, be healthy, and then the rest - the World Cup - may follow. If I can say I gave everything but don't achieve it then it's not the end of the world. I'll still be enjoying my football, and only be 29."