Chelsea have a big squad considering they won’t be playing in Europe – but still have time to trim it down over the next few weeks.
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Rumours emerged today that Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has been offered to Saudi club Al Hilal. It’s a move that wouldn’t have made sense were the Blues in Europe, but with no continental football to worry about this year and players already having been signed, a squad trimming is overdue.
In a piece for the BBC today, Nizaar Kinsella looked at the precedent for teams playing a year outside Europe and how much it affected their squad planning.
Chelsea unable to rely on bomb squad strategy
His analysis – looking at Leicester, Newcastle and Man U in recent years, concludes that “carrying significantly more than 20 senior players may be unnecessary for clubs not competing in Europe.”
After years of forcing players to train separately from the main group in a so called “bomb squad,” Chelsea will need a new approach after that practice was banned by FIFPro. The likes of Axel Disasi adn Marc Guiu, currently not with the main squad as the club search for moves for them, will have to be reintegrated before too long if no new club is found.
The squad has generally been kept at around 25 players, but with no European football we could see it closer to 20.
In other news…
Josh Acheampong faces an even tougher battle for minutes this season with no European football to take into the equation.
Trevoh Chalobah’s transfer to Como is moving at a glacial pace – but it does finally seem like it’s close to being done.
