In a tale of two left-backs, one decision from Mauricio Pochettino might have very literally changed the very landscape of European football. Sort of.

His call to select Marc Cucurella from the start in an untelevised 2-1 Carabao Cup second round tie at home to AFC Wimbledon in August 2023 has had a ripple effect to follow. Not only did the selection come as a surprise - Cucurella was at the time still, remember, a much-maligned member of the squad - but if effectively ended a transfer to Manchester United.

In the days prior, as Erik ten Hag looked to get cover for his own injury-prone left-back in Luke Shaw, Cucurella had emerged as a surprise name. With Chilwell starting the season in the Chelsea team - although more on the wing than as a defender - Cucurella looked free to go.

Ian Maatsen had returned from an impressive loan at Burnley and stood out in pre-season. Chilwell was lean, strong, and had been another impressive player on the tour of America. Cucurella was the £62million man and the very image of everything wrong with the club's new ownership after a 12th place finish the season before.

Less than five weeks later and Cucurella was starting games for Chelsea at both left-back and right-back because Chilwell had picked up yet another setback. It took a while for him to get going, but it turned out to have been the first signs of form for someone who would go on to be a keystone in Spain's Euro 2024 winning group.

18 months on from that night at Stamford Bridge, which involved a scarcely believable set of names including Diego Moreira, Mason Burstow, and Bashir Humphreys starting. It is the Cucurella choice which stands out.

Pochettino, it appeared, almost single-handedly called off his move to Old Trafford. Cucurella was cup-tied from the moment the game kicked off and therefore left United looking elsewhere. On the verge of a transfer, it was a strange and unexpected piece of management.

Enzo Maresca, now in charge, will not be doing the same. Due to their futures lying away from Chelsea, he confirmed that Cesare Casadei and Chilwell would not be involved in Saturday's FA Cup third round meeting with League Two strugglers Morecambe.

"Chilwell, for him, I think in this moment is thinking he is probably going to leave, so it is probably better to avoid using him to avoid that kind of situation, an injury or this kind of thing," he said on Friday at Cobham. "So the plan is not to use Ben tomorrow."

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Chilwell's only minutes so far this season came in the League Cup in August. They did not harm his chances of leaving over the summer, although a move was not found despite the best efforts of all involved.

He is pushing, once again, to find at least a temporary resolution to his current situation in footballing purgatory. Given he is likely to be taking a step down from Chelsea in this move, being able to feature in the cup competitions is certainly a draw. Saving him from potential injury after being left out in the cold (figuratively and literally, for this past week), is also a smart move.

The same goes for Casadei. He has had more of a role to play as Maresca turned to him in the Conference League but is still expected to depart. The Italian is also more likely to go permanently than Chilwell due to his lower wages, better fitness record, and age.

"For him, probably in this moment, the idea is not to allow him to play some minutes in case there is any opportunity for him to go and play," Maresca explained. "At this moment, this is the best thing for him."

Understandably, Maresca would not be drawn on more of the specifics. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who is very much in the Casadei bracket - a tangential situation to Chilwell but with slightly more game time - will be out through injury.

He is another who is angling to depart in one way or another before February 3. Carney Chukwuemeka, who Maresca did not field questions on, is thought to be in the same boat.

Although turnarounds like Cucurella's are not on the horizon for this group, keeping options open this window rather than forcing the hand like Pochettino did, is a move surely designed to benefit the club's position in the transfer market. It may see the squad sent out to play Morecambe look different to ones which have been used in Europe so far this season as the bulk of players consider their future at Chelsea but it should bring with it positives further down the line.