Why Chelsea wonderkid can’t play at Club World Cup despite being in USA with the team | OneFootball

The Club World Cup is underway, starting last night with a drab 0-0 draw between Inter Miami and Al Ahly.

Chelsea don’t play until tomorrow night, but we’re already eagerly awaiting Enzo Maresca’s press conference about the game, his first since the Conference League final.

Chelsea squad list brings the headlines

Chelsea squad on pre-season flight.

The biggest news of the tournament so far from a Chelsea perspective is the squad list, which had some interesting inclusions and exclusions.

The fact that Christopher Nkunku was in, for example, raised eyebrows as he’s very much up for sale this summer. Meanwhile Djordje Petrovic, who was expecting to be competing for the first choice goalkeeper spot this season, was left out.

Paez left out of playing squad – but joins travelling group anyway

The fact that Kendry Paez wasn’t included didn’t shock anyone – he’s very young and expected to go on loan this season anyway. But as it turns out, the Daily Mail are reporting that he actually is in the USA and training with the group – he’s just not been put on the squad list.

There was some reporting that he was expecting to be in and felt let down, but that’s not been confirmed yet.

So while he won’t get minutes on the pitch, he will get a chance to show Enzo Maresca what he can do in training. After the tournament is over, he can go on loan, with our sister club Strasbourg looking a likely destination for him.

Chelsea fans who wanted to see him in action will have to wait a little longer, but there are plenty of other shiny new toys to play with. Fellow South American wonderkid Estevao Willian is out there, and we can’t remember many signings people were more excited about, especially after a year of build-up.