Does anyone in West London need ringers for their five-a-side team this week? I ask friends called Raheem, Ben, Romelu, Kepa and Trevoh.
Sterling, Chilwell, Lukaku, Arrizabalaga and Chalobah are among Chelsea players who have been told they will not be allowed to train with the first team at Cobham because they do not fit in with new boss Enzo Maresca’s plans. The first four were signed for a combined £270million. The fifth grew up in the academy.
They all have to train separately until they find a way out that ends their exile, like Armando Broja, who is about to go on loan to Ipswich for a season.
Sterling has not yet trained with the group after being given time to process Maresca’s announcement that he could leave. The 29-year-old was at home in London on Wednesday when confirmation came that Pedro Neto, whose £54m signing pushed him further down the pecking order, would take his No.7 shirt.
Chelsea are known as a ‘bomb squad’, but the number of exclusions doesn’t stop there. Mail Sport understands that as many as 13 will have to train in a separate group under technical coach Carlo Cudicini. The other eight are David Datro Fofana, Angelo, Lucas Bergstrom, Deivid Washington, Tino Anjorin, Alex Matos, Harvey Vale and, until his transfer is completed, Broja.
Raheem Sterling is one of the Chelsea players not allowed to train with the squad
Left-back Ben Chilwell, who joined for £50million in 2020, has also been banned
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is currently working with a group of 24 players in his squad
The ‘bomb brigade’, led by Carlo Cudicini, uses the facilities of the development brigade
It’s a mix of young and old, inexperienced and experienced, some for sale and others on loan. Despite a claim by Rio Ferdinand that they learned their fate via email, it is believed they all had face-to-face conversations, Maresca insisting that a minimum of respect was shown. That included his conversation with Sterling.
Mail Sport were at Cobham on Wednesday to watch Cole Palmer and co train. There were 24 players – 20 outfielders and four goalkeepers in Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic, Filip Jorgensen and Marcus Bettinelli – when Maresca led them into the first leg against Swiss side Servette in the Europa Conference League play-offs at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.
They were surrounded by towering trees and tall hedges that shielded them from prying eyes, meaning their stranded colleagues couldn’t look on with envy, even if they wanted to.
However, it would be wrong to think that the ‘bomb squad’ are completely separate from everyone else at Cobham. Mail Sport knows of at least one member who was seen mingling in the first-team building on Wednesday, as there is no total ban from all areas.
Still, they have their own schedule, which differs from those whose programmes are built around upcoming matches. For example, Wednesday’s first team session started at 3pm, ahead of Thursday night’s 8pm kick-off, with no activity anywhere else to be seen. There is also no designated pitch for the ‘bomb squad’, as they can occupy any pitch 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 detached building in Cobham. It’s state of the art, but still not where a senior wants to be.
For local Chalobah, it was a particularly painful experience. The 25-year-old player had hoped for a breakthrough season until he was not brought to the United States last month.
Some supporters believe it would be a mistake to try to force the sale of their graduate, just as they did Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid. Chalobah is available for £25m, with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa among the interested parties.
Romelu Lukaku, who is attracting interest from Napoli, is part of the separate group
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, a £72million signing in 2018, is also part of the ‘bomber’
Despite his status as an academy graduate, Trevoh Chalobah is also not part of the main group
The players’ union PFA does not look on it well, especially if a player becomes isolated from his colleagues. The Premier League also failed to change its code of conduct earlier.
But Maresca has a thick enough skin to tolerate accusations of insensitivity. He feels he can’t run a viable training session that includes everyone; a group of 24 is much more manageable.
None of this is new, of course. It’s been almost 30 years since Gavin Peacock was exiled from Chelsea in 1996 when Ruud Gullit was in charge. Maresca insisted on Wednesday that he’s not brutal, he’s honest — but the truth can hurt.