Maresca says he’s ‘not the guy’ to fix Chelsea’s squad unless they ‘pay me double’ with FIFTEEN outcasts in bloated team
ENZO MARESCA says he’s “not the guy” to fix Chelsea’s bloated squad on the eve of the new Premier League season.
The Blues have already brought in nine new players in the summer transfer window, spending around £160million.
Enzo Maresca insists he is not in charge of trimming down Chelsea’s squadGetty
Conor Gallagher is one of a host of Chelsea players linked with a move away from Stamford BridgeGetty
They are also still being linked with additional stars such as Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho.
Astonishingly, the size of their squad two days before their Premier League opener with Manchester City stands at 47 players.
SunSport has listed nine potential departures before the window shuts on August 30 – including Romelu Lukaku, Trevoh Chalobah, Kepa Arrizabalaga, David Datro Fofana and Armando Broja.
But offloading players has proven tough for Chelsea, with Conor Gallagher forced to fly back from Spain after his Atletico Madrid move stalled.
Now manager Maresca, 44, who took over from Mauricio Pochettino in June, has categorically stated it is the job of co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart to get rid of players – NOT his.
He said “This question is for Paul and Laurence, who are there to try and find solutions [to trim the squad].
“I am not the guy in charge to find solutions for loan players. If not, they have to pay me double!”
He also added: “At the moment if I start to think I have 43 players it is not a good thing, I have 28 training with me.”
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Romelu Lukaku is expected to leave before the end of the windowGetty
Trevor Chalobah is another the Blues are trying to offloadGetty
Chelsea squad
Chelsea’s 47-man squad:
Kepa
Robert Sanchez
Filip Jorgensen
Marcus Bettinelli
Djordje Petrovic
Lucas Bergstrom
Axel Disasi
Marc Cucurella
Tosin Adarabioyo
Benoit Badiashile
Levi Colwill
Trevoh Chalobah
Ben Chilwell
Reece James
Malo Gusto
Wesley Fofana
Bashir Humphreys
Josh Acheampong
Enzo Fernandez
Mykhailo Mudryk
Lesley Ugochukwu
Carney Chukwuemeka
Cole Palmer
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Conor Gallagher
Moises Caicedo
Tino Anjorin
Cesare Casadei
Renato Veiga
Romeo Lavia
Omari Kellyman
David Datro Fofana
Romelu Lukaku
Pedro Neto
Raheem Sterling
Armando Broja
Mason Burstow
Noni Madueke
Nicolas Jackson
Christopher Nkunku
Alex Matos
Deivid Washington
Marc Guiu
Angelo
Diego Moreira
Ronnie Stutter
Tyrique George
Chelsea are the top selling club of the 21st Century having raked in a remarkle £1.6BILLION across the last 24 years.
But the money pumped into transfers since owner Todd Boehly took over from Roman Abramovich in 2022 has been on a seismic scale.
Chelsea had spent more than £1bn in the four transfer windows before this summer.
But that has not transferred into on-pitch success.
They finished the end of Boehly’s first Premier League season in 12th place, down from third 12 months earlier.
Last season there was marginal improvement under Pochettino, but they could still only place sixth.
