Chelsea has left off quite a few notable players for their upcoming tour of the United States. New Blues boss Enzo Maresca recently named a 28-player squad for their series of preseason friendlies across America. The Premier League side will first face Wrexham on Wednesday, July 31 in California.
They will then go up against Celtic, Club America, Manchester City, and Real Madrid before heading back to England. In total, Chelsea is scheduled to play five matches in the States in less than two weeks.
Due to Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024, five key players did not travel with their teammates. Spanish defender Marc Cucurella and disgraced Argentine star Enzo Fernandez are still on vacation after having recently triumphed at the two tournaments.
England duo Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher, as well as Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, were omitted from the tour list as well. The latter trio may eventually join up with Chelsea at some point in the United States. Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic also remained back in England after suffering a recent injury.
Several other players, however, are missing from the traveling roster without much of an explanation. Headlining the list of omissions are Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Trevoh Chalobah, Cesare Casadei, David Datro Fofana, and Malang Sarr. As a result, there is now increased speculation that the sextet will soon depart the club.
Sarr is reportedly leaving the Blues after team officials agreed to tear up his current contract. The Frenchman previously joined Chelsea as a highly-coveted free agent back in 2020. Nevertheless, the center-back only made eight Premier League appearances for the club and spent spells on loan at Porto and Monaco.
Lukaku and Arrizabalaga are also unfavored by Chelsea brass as well. The striker cost the club around $122 million in a move from Inter Milan in 2021. He, however, only managed one disappointing campaign with the English side. Most expect him to join Napoli later this summer. The Spanish goalkeeper is also almost certain to leave Chelsea as well after spending last season on loan at Real Madrid.
Chalobah’s absence from the traveling squad is probably the most surprising though. After all, the English defender has featured fairly heavily for the club in recent seasons. Despite this, Blues brass have continued to bring in a plethora of players in Chalobah’s position.
This lengthy list includes Wesley Fofana, Axel Disasi, and Tosin Adarabioyo. As a result, the former youth product is now on the chopping block. There have also been claims that Chalobah feels as if Chelsea is forcing him out of the team.
David Datro Fofana and Cesare Casadei are not on the team’s traveling list. Chelsea only recently purchased the youngsters in recent seasons. Nevertheless, the duo has failed to impress during their short time with the club.
In total, the Blues spent about $225 million on the six key players failing to feature in the recent squad. Chelsea will generate funds by likely selling five of them. Regardless, the Stamford Bridge side is taking a financial loss. The Blues will not even recoup half of the aforementioned collective transfer fees in these sales.
Chelsea’s insistence on spending freely has undoubtedly bloated their overall squad. Despite spending over $1 billion on revamping the roster in the last two previous years, they continue to bring in new players. The Blues have already added six stars to the squad during the current transfer window. As a result, Chelsea now has 43 total senior players on their roster at the moment.
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