Blog

The Blues kick off their pre-season tour against Wrexham in California on Wednesday.

New boss Enzo Maresca will get a good look at his squad with further fixtures planned against Celtic, Manchester City and Real Madrid.

But 43 aces – excluding injured stars and internationals given an extended break – did not make the 28-man group.

Many of them are unlikely to play for the Blues again as they look to offload talents they paid a combined £190million for.

Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Trevoh Chalobah, Cesare Casadei, David Datro Fofana and Malang Sarr were all notable absentees.

Blues chiefs are desperate to offload £97.5m signing Lukaku, who has spent the last two seasons on loan at Inter Milan and Roma.

Chelsea have been linked with a stunning swoop for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.

The rumoured move would see them send £77m, Lukaku and another player to Naples in exchange for the hotshot.

Keeper Arrizabalaga was shipped out on loan to Real Madrid as cover for the injured Thibaut Courtois last season.

The £72.1m signing reportedly has an offer on the table from Saudi Arabia.

Academy graduate Chalobah may consider himself unlucky to see himself on the list.

But Tosin Adarabioyo’s arrival has pushes him further down the pecking order.

Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer are being rested after deep runs at Euro 2024 and the Copa America.

Djordje Petrovic is rehabbing after suffering an injury.

The rest of the absentees mainly come from Chelsea’s youth teams and would not have expected to make the cut.