Chelsea are in a familiar position, facing a large number of players in the squad. The Londoners have a full 41 players in the first team, while until the end of the summer transfer window there are still 25 days. Without European football in the new edition, coach Xabi Alonso is expected to significantly reduce his squad.
A significant portion of the players will be sold or loaned out, the BBC writes on Friday.
Player registrations are not limited, despite the 25-man rule in the Premier League. But the Spanish coach knows that players who are not included in the plans cannot be good for the harmony of the squad. To make the squad more manageable, of the 25 senior players, Chelsea must release 16 players by the beginning of September.
If Chelsea had qualified for European competition, the club would have risked not being able to register certain players. This happened to them in the 2024/2025 season, when they won the Conference League.
The Blues are used to this level of player turnover and are encouraged by the fact that they have built up Alonso's squad largely through the signings of Morgan Rogers, Marco Palestra, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and Maxence Lacroiz. Pep Chavarria is expected to be the next signing.
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The size of the squad, however, needs to be managed. Chelsea had 21 substitutes on Wednesday in their 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong. Only five were academy players.
Chelsea have decided to keep a big squad in the final days of their Asian tour. The team face Milan in Indonesia on Saturday and play Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim on Sunday. There could be two different Chelsea formations.
The number, however, remains impressive, given that Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were absent through injury. Striker Emmanuel Emegha continues his rehabilitation from a thigh injury.
Chelsea have five players who are not even training with the first team: Benoit Badiashile, Alex Disasi Marc Guiu, David Datro Fofana and Caleb Wiley. All are available for transfers or loans. Seven players remain on leave until next week after playing in the latter stages of the World Cup: Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Rogers, Henderson, Lacroix, Valentin Barco and Malo Gusto.
Defender Trevoh Chalobah is close to joining Como for £31m, while goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is on loan at Strasbourg. More moves are expected in the coming days.
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