Enzo Maresca rules out return for Chelsea 'bomb squad' after failed summer exits

Enzo Maresca has told a group of fringe players Chelsea have labelled the "bomb squad" there is no route back into his first team after several failed moves in the summer transfer window.

The Blues boss said Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi, David Datro Fofana and others remain under contract at Chelsea but are being kept apart from the senior squad at the club’s Cobham training base. Maresca said he had not seen any of those players since the season began because they are scheduled to train at different times and on different pitches.

"They are Chelsea players because they have a contract with the club," Maresca said. "In this moment, they are still training apart. The idea is to continue in exactly the same way. Since we started the season, I didn't see one of them. I didn't see Renato (Veiga), I didn't see Axel (Disasi), I didn't see Raheem (Sterling), because they train at a different time on a different pitch. I haven't seen them since we started the season." When asked if there was any way back into the first team for those players, Maresca replied: "With us? No."

Sterling, 30, still has two years remaining on his contract and has been reported as Chelsea’s highest-paid player, on more than £300,000 a week. Disasi, 27, has also been linked with moves away and is reported to be on a significantly lower wage, but both remained at the club after deadline day and have been kept away from first-team sessions and match-day involvement.

Mareshca delivered the update as he outlined a stretched squad hampered by injuries and late returns from international duty ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Brentford. Cole Palmer trained only partially for the first time on Thursday following a groin issue. Several South American internationals, including Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian, Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo, returned late from national-team duty and were limited to recovery work. Romeu Lavia and Benoit Badiashile were ruled out of the trip to Brentford, and the club expects Levi Colwill to remain sidelined for an extended period while he continues to recover from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Mareshca also confirmed longer-term absences for some players. Liam Delap is facing up to 12 weeks on the sidelines, Dario Essugo is also expected to be out, and the manager described the squad as dealing with a challenging injury picture while trying to maintain competitive balance across competitions.

Amid the exclusions and injury problems, Maresca highlighted the club’s youth prospects, singling out 16-year-old midfielder Reggie Walsh for praise after the teenager trained with the first team and featured in the Conference League last season. "I like all the academy guys but Reggie is the one I like more than the rest," Maresca said. "He is doing things that I’m demanding to the other players, but he is doing those things without me asking him. I don’t need to ask him to do something. What he's doing is already what I want from that player."

He also referenced Chelsea winger Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, another 16-year-old who scored four goals and provided an assist for England Under-17s against Germany during the international break. "I watched even that game. I was very impressed but I already knew him," Maresca said. "We always have one of my staff watching the second team. They told me this guy was very good so I watched him. For sure, he is one of the players that we are looking at."

Chelsea’s decision to keep several high-profile squad members out of first-team activity follows a summer in which the club sought to offload a number of players as part of a broader squad rebuild. With transfer window business concluded, Maresca’s stance makes clear the club intends to press ahead with its plans for both the senior squad and emerging academy talents while managing an increasingly thin roster through the early weeks of the season.