Enzo Maresca reveals two Chelsea stars have been relegated to the 20-man BOMB SQUAD and banished from the first team as Blues look to balance the books with summer exits

Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell are the latest Chelsea stars to be forced to train away from the first team with head coach Enzo Maresca insisting on Wednesday afternoon he is ‘not brutal’ for his ever-enlarging bomb squad.

Maresca added in a stern press conference he does ‘not care’ if a player is tied down by a 20-year deal because he will axe him if he believes it is best. The sidelining of Sterling, 29, and Chilwell, 27, means Chelsea now have more than 10 members that make up a Blues bomb squad who could leave this summer.

It comes days after Mail Sport exclusively revealed via a statement from Sterling’s representatives that he wanted clarity on his future after being left out of the squad for Chelsea’s season-opening loss to Manchester City.

This bombshell news overshadowed Chelsea’s £45.5million signing of Joao Felix on Wednesday, announced 15 minutes prior to Maresca’s press conference.

Maresca said on Wednesday afternoon: ‘They (Sterling and Chilwell) are training apart. We have a big squad and it is impossible to give them all minutes. If they are looking for minutes, then it is better if they leave. If they do not leave, then they have a contract here and they are Chelsea players.’

Both Ben Chilwell (left) and Raheem Sterling (right) have been training separately this week

Maresca has been accused of being callous but he countered: ‘Brutal? I don’t think so. I try to be honest. I can repeat again if it’s not clear: I spoke with Raheem before the (Manchester) City game. I said he is going to struggle to get minutes with us. With Chilly, I said he is a lovely guy, but he is going to struggle because of his position. If you define this as “brutal”, it is up to you to decide. For me, it’s not brutal, it’s just honest. I’m not saying Raheem is not a good player but I prefer different kinds of wingers. This is the reason why.’

Sterling is contracted until 2027 and quizzed on these long deals posing him problems, Maresca said: ‘This is not my problem. I am here to make decisions and decide what the best is for the team. I am not here to talk about how many years contract. It’s not my job.

‘If it’s six year contract, or a 20-year contract, I don’t care. I’m just here to make the right decisions for the team. About the contract situation, it’s not my job.

‘You like to say we have 42 or 43 players. Today’s session is with 20 players. Yesterday’s session was with 21. But the other 15 or 20, they are training apart. Chelsea players, yes, 42 or 43, sure, but they are not working with me every day. I don’t see them so it’s not a mess like it looks from outside. Absolutely not.’