Mauricio Pochettino holds key transfer meeting with Carney Chukwuemeka over Chelsea future

Carney Chukwuemeka has insisted he wishes to stay at Chelsea for the upcoming season with Mauricio Pochettino recently telling the midfielder he wants to help his development at the club.

The 19-year-old joined the Blues last summer for around £20million from Aston Villa with then head coach Thomas Tuchel assuring the midfielder he would be involved in his first-team plans. However, Tuchel was sacked just over a month into the 2022/23 season, so it cast a bit of doubt over Chukwuemeka's role in the squad when Graham Potter was appointed as his successor.

Chukwuemeka was handed his Chelsea debut against Wolves just over a month prior to Tuchel's sacking, where the England youth international came on for the final four minutes in the 3-0 win against Wolves at Stamford Bridge. After being an unused substitute against Aston Villa next time out, he was then handed back-to-back appearances from the bench against Brentford and Manchester United.

A further 12 appearances – in all competitions – followed in the remainder of the season. Chelsea supporters only managed to see glimpses of Chukwuemeka's talent throughout the campaign with many calling for him to be used more in the upcoming season.

Back in May, football.london was told Chelsea would consider sending the former Aston Villa midfielder out on loan to get him some more first-team minutes elsewhere. That, however, was before Pochettino was appointed head coach and the Argentine has recently held a crucial meeting with the midfielder over his future at the club.

«He has come in and said that he sees the talent, that he wants to help develop me,» Chukwuemeka said in an interview with Sky Sports. «Whether that's in a month or six months, but I want to stay and prove to everyone