Chelsea remain STUCK with eight members of bomb squad

30 Aug 2024 20:15 BST
4 min read

Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Chelsea still have eight members of the bomb squad registered with them as the Transfer Deadline Day draws to a close.

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It's been another busy window for the Premier League side, with a number of outgoings and incoming.

At the time of writing the side remain in talks with Napoli over a move for Victor Osimhen. But the side still wish to move on a huge number of their out-of-favour players.

BREAKING NEWS! Transfer Deadline Day Live! Minute-by-minute updates of all the biggest deals

BBC Sports journalist Nizaar Kinsella relayed the list of names that Chelsea wish to sell ahead of the summer transfer deadline.

"Raheem Sterling (interest from Arsenal), Ben Chilwell, Trevor Chalobah, Harvey Vale, Deivid Washington, Angelo Gabriel, Datro Fofana, Armanjo Broja (talks with Ipswich)."

Much has been made of Chelsea’s bloated squad, with Enzo Maresca’s side desperate to offload a number of players before the transfer window closes on Friday.

The likes of Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell have been told that they have no future at Stamford Bridge and must train on their own in an effort to force their unwanted stars out the club.

While Chelsea have not been the only club to deploy such a tactic, the scale of their approach has led to the Blues have attracting the most attention, something which has prompted the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to step in.

According to the Daily Mail, the PFA want authorities to put a stop to ‘bomb squads’ and have lobbied the Premier League and FIFA to be more strict on preventing clubs from pulling such manoeuvres.

A PFA source described the growing problem as ‘unacceptable’ and the union have been in contact with Chelsea players, among others, to offer assistance.

© IMAGO - The likes of Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Romelu Lukaku are all part of Chelsea's 'bomb squad'.

Chelsea could be violating employment law, according to lawyers

The PFA are understood to have been campaigning in the background for a number of years, believing the Premier League Handbook, which serves as a contract between players and clubs, is too vague on the issue.

Under the ‘duties and obligations of the player’ section, footballers are told they must ‘attend at any reasonable place for the purposes of and to participate in training and match preparation’.

They are also told to ‘maintain a high standard of physical fitness at all times’ which the PFA have claimed is too open to interpretation.

The Premier League believe the issue is governed by FIFA, while it has proven to be messy overall, with at least one Chelsea player reportedly being contacted by lawyers who could explore if the treatment violates employment law.

Chelsea, meanwhile, believe they have acted appropriately by having exiled players train together in a specific group led by loan technical coach Carlo Cudicini.

This, they believe, allows players to focus on their futures and avoid any false hope of being integrated back into the first team, with players such as David Datro Fofana, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Romelu Lukaku all expected to be moved on in the coming days.