August 22nd 2024.
It seems that there is some uncertainty surrounding the futures of Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell at Chelsea. Enzo Maresca, the new manager, insists that the situation at the club is not chaotic, but the 13 senior players who have been training separately from the first-team may beg to differ.
After a summer of lavish spending from co-owner Todd Boehly, which saw ten new players join the team, Maresca finds himself with an overwhelming amount of players to manage. In an attempt to address this issue, the Italian has removed 13 players, including high-profile names like Sterling and Chilwell, from first-team training. These players are now training separately under the guidance of loan technical coach and former Chelsea goalkeeper, Carlo Cudicini.
This group of unwanted players has been dubbed the "bomb squad" and it is expected that many of them will leave the club before the end of the transfer window. However, at the moment, they could make up a strong and expensive reserve team. Let's take a closer look at this exiled squad.
In goal, we have Kepa Arrizabalaga, who remains the world's most expensive goalkeeper but has failed to impress since joining Chelsea in 2018. The Spaniard spent last season on loan at Real Madrid, but the club has not shown interest in signing him permanently. In defense, we have Chilwell playing in a more central position than he would prefer. Maresca has admitted that the Englishman will struggle to get playing time ahead of his preferred full-back, Marc Cucurella. Rumors have linked Chilwell to Manchester United.
Next to him, we have Axel Disasi, who has not officially been exiled but has been told that he is not in Maresca's immediate plans for the season. Signed from Monaco last summer for a hefty fee, this defender has attracted interest from Newcastle United. On the other side, we have Trevor Chalobah, who was one of the first players to be banished from first-team training under Maresca's reign. The 25-year-old has drawn attention from Bayern Munich and could be sold for around £25m.
Moving to midfield, we have Raheem Sterling, who was left out of Chelsea's first Premier League match against Manchester City. The English winger publicly expressed his desire for clarity over his future, which Maresca has now provided by informing him that he is not part of the manager's preferred style of play. Alongside him, we have Alex Matos, who joined the team on a free transfer last summer but only made one Premier League appearance. He is more of an attacking midfielder but will have to play a deeper role in this exiled team.
Holding down the midfield is Tino Anjorin, who spent last season on loan at Portsmouth in League One. The young academy product has also had loan spells at Huddersfield Town and Lokomotiv Moscow and is expected to go out on loan again this season. On the bench, we have Harvey Vale, who is another attacking-minded midfielder but will have to play a deeper role in this exiled squad. The 20-year-old spent last season on loan at Bristol Rovers.
On the wings, we have Angelo Gabriel, who was signed for £13m from Santos last summer but has yet to make a competitive appearance for Chelsea. He spent last season on loan at Strasbourg, but with the arrival of Pedro Neto, it seems that he will be leaving the club, either on loan or permanently. Up front, we have Romelu Lukaku, who had a disappointing second stint at Chelsea and is now closing in on a move to Napoli. The Belgian striker scored only eight goals during his time back at the club and has spent the past two seasons on loan at Inter Milan and Roma.
On the bench, we have Lucas Bergstrom, David Datro Fofana, and Deivid Washington, who are all part of the exiled "bomb squad". This team may not be part of the first-team plans at Chelsea, but they are still a strong and costly group of players who could potentially make up an 11-a-side reserve team. It will be interesting to see where these players end up before the end of the transfer window. Stay tuned for the latest updates on Chelsea's exiled "bomb squad".
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