£500k a week of wages left in the stands by Enzo Maresca in shock first squad of the season | OneFootball

Chelsea’s first team sheet of the season is out, and there’s no bigger clue about the manager’s plans for the season than this.

Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s playing where? Who is in favour and who is out? Who’s getting sold? A lot of clues are being given by this list of 20 names.

Nothing strikes us as more significant than the absence, not just from the team but from the squad, of two players. The summer has been full of talk about players being frozen out and sent to train with various youth teams, but things Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling had thus far been included in everything and looked like they would be involved – and potentially important – this season.

But neither are in the squad today. That’s £500,000 per week of wages not even on the bench.

We can accept that neither might be in Enzo Maresca’s first team. But surely Raheem Sterling is better sub than Mykhailo Mudryk, and Chilwell a better option to replace a tired Marc Cucurella than Renato Veiga?

Enzo Maresca teaches Raheem Sterling on the pitch.

A sledgehammer to crack a nut

Is this simply a very unsubtle attempt to let them know they’re not wanted and not being counted on this season? It looks that way. But if that’s your plan, why aren’t they just in the notorious “bomb squad” at the training ground with the likes of Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku?

This risks a fresh injection of bad vibes into the squad just as the season starts. Selling either player when they’re on just big wages seems like it’s going to be tricky, and it remains to be seen whether this ploy helps get them out or just winds them up.

You’ve got to play the long game here – if these exclusions tip them over the edge and they leave, it was all worth it. If we can’t shift them, you’ve created a stink for nothing.