Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has refused to oppose his decision to remove Raheem Sterling from his first-team plans.
Sterling was left out of the Blues squad that faced Manchester City on Sunday, along with former vice-captain Ben Chilwell. The winger still has 3 years left on his contract, having arrived from Manchester City just two years ago.
But it turns out he has no place in Maresca’s plans, as the Italian replaced Mauricio Pochettino as coach earlier this summer. Maresca is already making its mark, having seen the arrival of nine new players and the departure of thirteen.
The latter number is expected to rise, and the Blues boss has made it clear that Sterling and Chilwell are free to leave. In his place, Maresca put his religion in Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernández, the latter named captain against City despite the typhoon of racism it caused after the Copa América.
“It happens several times. The coach has to make sure of the resolutions. Sometimes players don’t like it, that’s normal. Just a technical resolution, nothing more. We will see in the coming days,” Maresca told Sky Sports. the resolution to leave Sterling and Chilwell out.
“At the moment, I think none of them [players] are one hundred percent. It’s the same for all teams. Nicolas [Jackson] is better, Cole [Palmer] is better. Pedro [Neto] arrived a few days ago. Would you like a little more? I hope we can give you a few minutes.
“He [Fernandez] is one of the captains. He is not the only captain. But he’s the captain today. I can see the teammates, they love him as a player and as a man. We all make mistakes sometimes. The vital thing is Recognize it and it’s over. “
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Sterling had to look for explanations after the resolution that left him out of the team. The former England star asked his representatives to plant an explosive on Sunday afternoon, just before the start of the match against City.
“Raheem Sterling has a contract with Chelsea Football Club for the next 3 years. He returned to England two weeks earlier to lead individual education and had a positive pre-season with the new coach, with whom he has developed an intelligent relationship. “said one from Sterling’s camp.
“He is committed, as always, to bringing the popular to Chelsea FC and the fans, whom he holds in high esteem, and given his inclusion in the club’s official pre-match dressing room this week, we expected Raheem to be involved in this . The game of the weekend, to a certain extent.
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“As a camp, we have had a positive discussion and assurances from Chelsea FC regarding Raheem’s long career at the club. Therefore, we are looking for explanations about the situation. Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s preference to begin with. “the new season in a positive way”.
Earlier this week, Maresca made it clear that it would be more productive for Chilwell to leave Stamford Bridge this summer. The left-back arrived at Chelsea in 2020 but battled injuries during his time in west London.
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