Ben Chilwell has bid an emotional farewell to Chelsea fans after his late summer exit from Stamford Bridge, thanking them for the “best moments” of his life.
The former England left-back’s five-year stint in west London officially came to an end earlier this week on Deadline Day, when he joined Chelsea’s BlueCo-owned French sister club Strasbourg on a two-year contract.
Chilwell made 107 appearances in total for the Blues after arriving from Leicester in a £50million deal in the summer of 2020, winning the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2021 in addition to reaching FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals.
However, the 28-year-old has suffered injury issues in recent years and was part of the so-called unwanted ‘bomb squad’, featuring just once for Chelsea last season and spending the second half of the campaign on loan at Crystal Palace.
Chilwell will now seek to revive his career at Conference League participants Strasbourg under head coach Liam Rosenior, where he joins former Chelsea team-mates such as Mathis Amougou and Diego Moreira, plus latest loanees Kendry Paez, Mamadou Sarr and Mike Penders.
Penning an emotional goodbye to Chelsea supporters on Instagram, Chilwell wrote: “Chelsea fans, firstly thank you! We won the Champions League together, made a bond like I’d never have imagined and I met brothers for life on and off the pitch here.
“You helped me through the tough times, injuries, personal life, and gave me the best moments of my life. I’ll never be able to thank you guys enough, looking forward to showing everyone my best. See you soon. Chilly.”
The message featured a highlights reel of some of Chilwell’s most memorable moments throughout his Chelsea career, including winning the Champions League against Manchester City in Porto four years ago.
“Joining Chelsea was such a proud day for me, for my family,” he says over the video. “It’s a club that obviously growing up, I saw them winning trophies year in, year out.
“Fortunately I’ve been able to achieve that and I’ve been able to play in massive games. I think the Champions League final obviously stands out, it was one of the proudest days that I’ve had in football. If not the proudest day that I’ve had in football.
“Having my family there, having my dad there to see me win the Champions League and go on and win the Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
“Just throughout my time at Chelsea, the support the fans have given me has been something I’ll never forget. It’s the biggest thank you I want to give and making memories which will stay with me for the rest of my life.
“In years to come, coming back to either play against Chelsea or to come and watch Chelsea play, it’s a place that I’m going to be super excited to come back to and see everyone again.
“I had some tough times while I was at Chelsea. I had some really bad injuries, I lost my dad. But the one thing that will stick with me was the brothers that I met along the way that helped me through it. I’ll always be grateful for that.
“Now it’s time for me to move on to the next chapter in my journey, push myself again at another club and go and enjoy my football again.
“Of course it’s not the way I would have loved things to have ended here after such great memories, but it’s a place that I’m going to be very excited to come back to, to see the fans, to see my friends at the club.
“I’m very excited for what’s next for me in the future. Hopefully I’ll see everyone very soon.”
