Chelsea secured their latest summer signing on Wednesday (21.08.24), bringing Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge after his loan spell last year, while Conor Gallagher moved in the opposite direction to Atletico Madrid.

The club is now looking to offload up to a dozen players before the transfer window closes in an effort to trim their senior squad.

Maresca left both Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell from his travelling squad for Thursday's (22.08.24) Europa Conference League play-off against Servette and He now says they will have to leave the Blues if they want to play regular football.

Maresca said: "The only thing I can say is that I try to be honest with all of them in this moment, the noise is from outside. More than 15 players are training apart, they are not with the team.

"I spoke with Raheem [Sterling] before Manchester City, I said that he is going to struggle to get minutes with us. With Chilly [Chilwell] I said he is a lovely guy, but with his position, he’s going to struggle with us. It’s not brutal, it’s honest.

"I am not working with 42 players, I am working with 21 players [in first-team training]. It’s not a mess like it looks from outside. The other players can even have 20 years contract, it is not my point. I don’t care."