Chelsea: £190k-a-week star 'struggling physically' before Leeds United game

Chelsea‘s Ben Chilwell has been “struggling physically” since returning from a long-term knee problem, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

The England international suffered an ACL injury last November and despite making his return to action on the final day of last season, he’s still suffering from fitness problems.

Chilwell made an excellent start to last season, scoring three goals in 13 games, but the ex-Leicester City star sustained a serious knee injury against Juventus in the Champions League, which kept him out until May.

Having been monitored carefully over the summer months, Chilwell enjoyed a productive pre-season, which put him in good shape for the new campaign.

And with Marcos Alonso being linked with Barcelona, Chilwell was the club’s only recognised left-sided player beyond Emerson, who’s could leave, and was therefore picked to start against Everton on the opening day.

The £190,000 per-week man played the opening 65 minutes at Goodison Park and won the penalty that was dispatched by Jorginho for the winning goal.

But eight days later, Chilwell found himself on the bench against Tottenham, with summer signing Marc Cucurella replacing him in the team.

24 hours later, Chilwell played for the club’s Under-21s against Fulham, with the 25-year-old getting valuable minutes under his belt.

Despite his surprise outing for the young Blues, Phillips doesn’t believe that Chilwell has suffered a setback in his recovery.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I’ve been told from people at Cobham that Chilwell has struggled to get back to his best physical condition, so they are working with him hard to get him back and playing him in Under-21 games is part of that, to get his match fitness back.”

Despite getting 90 minutes under