England International star banished from club squad
2 min read
Former Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has been excluded from Enzo Maresca’s first team Chelsea squad together with 20 other players.
Shocking story occurred on Sunday afternoon when Sterling was not part the players who were selected to face Manchester City at Stamford Bridge during their Premier League opener. While Maresca and his technical team encountered few problems then City won by 2-0 on the day.
Sterling and his representatives were annoyed by his exclusion and released a statement after the match that stating that winger seek “clarity” over his future. The 29-year-old arrived at the club in 2022 after parting ways with City and has three years left on his Chelsea deal.
Maresca has confirmed Sterling’s future with Chelsea is now over. Speaking on Wednesday afternoon about Sterling, and Ben Chilwell, who is also likely to leave Stamford Bridge.
Maresca said “They are training apart. The situation with both of them is quite clear. We have a big squad and it’s impossible to give all of them minutes. If they are looking for minutes it’s better for them to leave.”
“I try to be honest. I spoke with Raheem before the Manchester City game. I said he will struggle to get minutes with us and this was the reason why he was out. And with Chilly, he’s lovely guy, but I said he is going to struggle with his position. It’s not brutal, it’s just honest.”
Other players who train aside the rest of the squad is Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Romelu Lukaku. Conor Gallagher is another player who trains apart of the rest squad under Maresca, but it is believed that he has signed with Atletico Madrid while Joao Felix coming back at Stamford Bridge.
With the scandal taking taking place Maresca claims that he prefers to work with manageable squad size that has 21 players not 42 players.
Maresca said “I am not working with 42 players. I am working with 21 players. The other 15-20 players are training apart. I don’t see them. It’s not a mess like it looks from outside. Absolutely not.
“They can even have 20 years contract, it’s not my point. I don’t care. I am not saying Raheem is not a good player but I prefer different kinds of wingers. It’s simple. I’ve been honest, he will have no minutes here.”
BY LUCKY SEANEGO
