ENZO MARESCA says he’s “not the guy” to fix Chelsea’s bloated squad on the eve of the new Premier League season.
The Blues have already brought in nine new players in the summer transfer window, spending around £160million.
They are also still being linked with additional stars such as Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho.
Astonishingly, the size of their squad two days before their Premier League opener with Manchester City stands at 47 players.
SunSport has listed nine potential departures before the window shuts on August 30 – including Romelu Lukaku, Trevoh Chalobah, Kepa Arrizabalaga, David Datro Fofana and Armando Broja.
But offloading players has proven tough for Chelsea, with Conor Gallagher forced to fly back from Spain after his Atletico Madrid move stalled.
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Now manager Maresca, 44, who took over from Mauricio Pochettino in June, has categorically stated it is the job of co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart to get rid of players – NOT his.
He said “This question is for Paul and Laurence, who are there to try and find solutions [to trim the squad].
“I am not the guy in charge to find solutions for loan players. If not, they have to pay me double!”
He also added: “At the moment if I start to think I have 43 players it is not a good thing, I have 28 training with me.”
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Chelsea squad
Chelsea’s 47-man squad:
- Kepa
- Robert Sanchez
- Filip Jorgensen
- Marcus Bettinelli
- Djordje Petrovic
- Lucas Bergstrom
- Axel Disasi
- Marc Cucurella
- Tosin Adarabioyo
- Benoit Badiashile
- Levi Colwill
- Trevoh Chalobah
- Ben Chilwell
- Reece James
- Malo Gusto
- Wesley Fofana
- Bashir Humphreys
- Josh Acheampong
- Enzo Fernandez
- Mykhailo Mudryk
- Lesley Ugochukwu
- Carney Chukwuemeka
- Cole Palmer
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
- Conor Gallagher
- Moises Caicedo
- Tino Anjorin
- Cesare Casadei
- Renato Veiga
- Romeo Lavia
- Omari Kellyman
- David Datro Fofana
- Romelu Lukaku
- Pedro Neto
- Raheem Sterling
- Armando Broja
- Mason Burstow
- Noni Madueke
- Nicolas Jackson
- Christopher Nkunku
- Alex Matos
- Deivid Washington
- Marc Guiu
- Angelo
- Diego Moreira
- Ronnie Stutter
- Tyrique George
Chelsea are the top selling club of the 21st Century having raked in a remarkle £1.6BILLION across the last 24 years.
But the money pumped into transfers since owner Todd Boehly took over from Roman Abramovich in 2022 has been on a seismic scale.
Chelsea had spent more than £1bn in the four transfer windows before this summer.
But that has not transferred into on-pitch success.
They finished the end of Boehly’s first Premier League season in 12th place, down from third 12 months earlier.
Last season there was marginal improvement under Pochettino, but they could still only place sixth.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
