Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has revealed as many as 15 players are training separately from the main group at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have one of the most inflated squads in the Premier League and will need to move some on before the transfer window closes.
Newcastle United have been linked with moves for Noni Madueke and Axel Disasi as they look to strengthen their options at right wing and at centre-half. The latter of the duo was left out of the opening day defeat to Manchester City after undergoing surgery in the summer, while Madueke was an unused substitute.
“It’s the first 11 we want, the squad we want,” Maresca told football.london when speaking ahead of the Europa Conference League qualifier tomorrow. “But the first 11 we had against City is not always going to be the same. I am not working with 42 players.
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“I am working with 21 players. Today’s session was with 20 players, yesterday with 21. In USA, we had 26 or 27 players.
“It’s the job of every manager to keep them all happy but it’s almost impossible. Only 11 will play. It’s almost impossible to keep them all happy. I try always to be honest with all of them.
“The noise is more outside because I am working with 21 or 22 players since we are back from USA. I am not working with 42 or 43 players but more than 15 players are training apart.”
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reports Maresca saying he does not care about the length of the contract of players if they’re not in his plans.
The Italian head coach said he was happy with the transfer business his side had done so far, and did not rule out further departures.
“We’ll see (if there will be any more),” he added. “There are 10 days. Anything can happen. For us, in terms of bringing in a player but also selling a player.”
If Newcastle are to shift their focus away from Marc Guehi, with Disasi viewed as a possible alternative, they’ll have to act fast with ten days to go, the same applies to Madueke.
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