Anyone from West London needing players for their futsal team this week? I’m looking for friends called Raheem, Ben, Romelu, Kepa and Trevoh.
Sterling, Chilwell, Lukaku, Arrizabalaga and Chalobah are among the Chelsea players who have been told they cannot train with the first team at Cobham because they are not in new manager Enzo Maresca’s plans. The first four were signed for a total of £270m. The fifth came through the academy.
They will all train separately until they negotiate an exit that will put an end to their exile, like Armando Broja, who is close to securing a season-long loan at Ipswich.
Sterling has yet to train with the group as he has had time to come to terms with Maresca’s news that he may leave. The 29-year-old was at his London home on Wednesday when confirmation came that Pedro Neto, whose £54m signing dropped him further down the pecking order, would be wearing his No7 shirt.
Chelsea are not stopping there with the number of excluded players, popularly known as the ‘bomb squad’. Mail Sport understands that up to 13 players will have to train in a separate group led by loanee coach Carlo Cudicini. The other eight are David Datro Fofana, Angelo, Lucas Bergstrom, Deivid Washington, Tino Anjorin, Alex Matos, Harvey Vale and, pending his transfer, Broja.
Raheem Sterling is among Chelsea players unable to train with the team
Left-back Ben Chilwell, who signed for £50m in 2020, has also been sent off.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is currently working with a group of 24 players in his squad.
The ‘bomb squad’, led by Carlo Cudicini, uses the facilities of the development team
They are a mix of young and old, inexperienced and experienced, some for sale and others available on loan. Despite Rio Ferdinand claiming they learned of their destination by email, they are all believed to have had face-to-face talks, with Maresca insisting they were shown a modicum of respect. That included his interview with Sterling.
Mail Sport was at Cobham on Wednesday to watch Cole Palmer and Co train. There were 24 players (20 outfielders and four goalkeepers – Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic, Filip Jorgensen and Marcus Bettinelli) as Maresca led them out ahead of their Europa Conference League play-off first leg clash at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening.
They were surrounded by towering trees and tall hedges that provided them with privacy from prying eyes, meaning their fellow castaways couldn’t look at them with envy even if they wanted to.
However, it would be a mistake to think the ‘bomb squad’ is completely divorced from everyone at Cobham. Mail Sport knows of at least one member who was in the first-team building on Wednesday, as there is no blanket ban on all areas.
They do, however, have their own schedule, which differs from those whose programmes are set up around upcoming fixtures. Wednesday’s first-team session began at 3pm ahead of Thursday night’s 8pm kick-off, for example, and there was no sign of activity on the rest of the pitch. There is also no dedicated pitch allocated to the “bomb squad”, as they can occupy any that are not being used by Chelsea’s academy teams or the women’s team.
They have access to the development team’s indoor facilities, which are housed in a separate building in Cobham. It is state-of-the-art, but still not where any senior player wants to be.
For homegrown player Chalobah, it has been a particularly painful experience; the 25-year-old was hoping for a breakout season until he was brought to the United States last month.
Some fans believe it is a mistake to try to force the sale of their former player, as happened with Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid. Chalobah is available for £25m, with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa among those interested.
Romelu Lukaku, who is the subject of interest from Napoli, is part of the separate group
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, signed for £72m in 2018, is also part of the ‘bomb squad’
Despite his status as an academy graduate, Trevoh Chalobah is also estranged from the main group.
The players’ union, the PFA, takes a dim view of this, particularly in cases where a player is isolated from his team-mates, and has previously failed to get the Premier League to update its code of conduct.
But Maresca has a thick enough skin to withstand accusations of insensitivity. He feels he could not give a viable training session with everyone participating, as a group of 24 people would be much more manageable.
All this is nothing new, of course. It is almost 30 years since Gavin Peacock was ousted from Chelsea in 1996, when Ruud Gullit was in charge. Maresca insisted on Wednesday that he is not being brutal, just honest, but the truth can hurt.