Enzo Maresca[1] has told Chelsea[2]‘s ‘bomb squad’ members left behind after the summer transfer[3] window that they will remain in exile, with the Blues boss closing the door on a return to his first-team training sessions and match-day squad.
Raheem Sterling[4] and Axel Disasi were among those who remained at the club after deadline day, along with David Datro Fofana, and they are now back at Cobham training separately. Maresca said he had not seen any of them since the season started as they are scheduled to train at different times on different pitches to where those in the first-team picture work.
Sterling, who is still only 30, has two years remaining on his contract and is the Blues’ highest-paid player on more than £300,000 a week. Disasi, 27, is believed to be on around a third of that salary.
Their continued shunning comes despite Maresca using his pre-Brentford press conference on Friday to reveal Chelsea’s bleak injury reality. Cole Palmer[5] only trained partially for the first time on Thursday since his groin issue, while Chelsea’s South American stars, such as Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian[6], Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo, arrived back from international duty too late to paritcipate in a full session that same day as they went into recovery.
Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile[7] will also miss the Saturday night trip to Brentford[8], while Liam Delap is set to be sidelined for up to 12 weeks, along with Dario Essugo. Levi Colwill is likewise not scheduled to return until much later in the season after his ACL injury.
Chelsea outcasts Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling have been told there’s no way back
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A ruthless Enzo Maresca provided an update after the pair failed to secure moves this summer
Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’ have been kept away from first team training this season
Despite those absentees, Maresca added there was no way back for Sterling and Co.
‘They are Chelsea players because they have a contract with the club,’ the Blues boss said. ‘In this moment, they are still training apart. The idea is to continue in exactly the same way.
‘Since we started the season, I didnt see one of them. I didn’t see Renato (Veiga), I didn’t see Axel (Disasi), I didn’t see Raheem (Sterling), because they train at a different time on a different pitch. I haven’t seen them since we started the season.’
Asked if there was any way back into the first team for them, Maresca said: ‘With us? No.’
One academy youngster who has trained with the first team is 16-year-old Reggie Walsh and Maresca spoke glowingly on the midfielder who was used in the Conference League last season.
‘I like all the academy guys but Reggie is the one I like more than the rest,’ he said. ‘He is doing things that I’m demanding to the other players, but he is doing those things without me asking him. I don’t need to ask him to do something. What he’s doing is already what I want from that player.’
On Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, Chelsea’s other 16-year-old winger who secured four goals and one assist for England’s Under 17s against Germany during the international break, Maresca added: ‘I watched even that game. I was very impressed but I already knew him.
‘We always have one of my staff watching the second team. They told me this guy was very good so I watched him. For sure, he is one of the players that we are looking at.’
References
- ^ Enzo Maresca (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Chelsea (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ summer transfer (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Raheem Sterling (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Cole Palmer (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Willian (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Benoit Badiashile (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Brentford (www.dailymail.co.uk)