Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Raheem Sterling and vice-captain Ben Chilwell have been officially moved out of Chelsea’s first-team training sessions and advises them to ‘leave’ if they want to play regularly.
This decision indicates a significant shift in their status at the club as both senior players are now training separately from the main squad and Maresca believes he can no longer guarantee them playing minutes at the club.
Sterling was left out of Chelsea’s squad for their Europa Conference League play-off first leg with Servette and also out of their Premier League opening day loss against Manchester City.
On Sterling and Chillwell, Maresca, during his pre-match conference, confirmed: “They are training apart. The situation with both of them is quite clear. We have a big squad and it’s impossible to give all of them minutes. If they are looking for minutes it’s better for them to leave.
“I try to be honest. I spoke with Raheem before the Manchester City game. I said he will struggle to get minutes with us and this was the reason why he was out.
“And with Chilly, he’s a lovely guy, but I said he is going to struggle with his position. It’s not brutal, it’s just honest.”
“I am not saying Raheem is not a good player but I prefer different kinds of wingers. It’s simple”.
“I spoke with Raheem one-on-one the day before City. I have nothing new to tell him… as I was quite clear”.
“If he wants a chat again I’ll tell him what I already told him”.
Similarly, the move signals that the club is looking to either sell these players or that they are no longer part of the immediate plans for the team’s future.
The Blues manager also confirmed that he is currently working with 21 players and not with 42 players.
Maresca, while speaking on the squad he wants stated: “The first 11 we want, it’s the squad we want. The first 11 we had against Manchester City is not always going to be the same 11 all season. But, the squad is the squad that I want in this moment. I am not working with 42 players. I’m working in this moment with 21 players. The other 15 or 20, they are training apart. It’s not a mess, from how it looks outside.”
“They can even have 20 years contract, it’s not my point. I don’t care”.
Enzo Maresca also confirmed that injured defender, Reece James is the club captain and he plans to nominate a few more names as his assistants.
“Reece is the captain, then we have three, four more captains like Enzo [Fernandez], I’m thinking of nominating one or two new captains, to give them more responsibilities, not just because they are 21 or 22 years old. One of them could be Levi [Colwill], I love Levi but i think in terms of personality, if he can give one step forward in these kind of things, He can become a complete player with all the aspects. But it’s not just Levi, I’m thinking of one or two more,” he added.
In other news, Chelsea have signed Portugal forward Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid for a fee in the region of £45m.
He would become Chelsea’s ninth summer signing, following the arrivals of Tosin Adarabioyo, Omari Kellyman, Marc Guiu, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley, Aaron Anselmino and Pedro Neto.
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