Enzo Maresca impresses Chelsea fans with brutally honest press conference before Servette game

The Blues have become notorious for their massive squad, with about 40 players on the first-team books, and it’s already caused disagreements with players this season. Raheem Sterling’s camp controversially issued a statement about his exclusion from the squad to face Manchester City in their season opener, and the forward is now training away from the first team.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa Conference League game against Swiss side Servette, Maresca addressed the choice to leave both Sterling and Ben Chilwell out of his squad for the match.

"I spoke with Raheem before the Manchester City game, I said he is going to struggle to get minutes with us and this is why he was out of the squad. With Chilwell, I said he is a lovely guy but, because of his position with us, he is going to struggle. If you define this as brutal that is for you to decide, I say this is honesty."

He confirmed that more than 15 players are training apart from the first team, and said it was “almost impossible” to keep everyone happy. However, he added: “It is not a mess like it looks from outside, absolutely not."

Today also saw academy graduate Conor Gallagher finally depart for Atlético Madrid after a long transfer saga, with João Félix coming the other way. Maresca said it was “very sad” to see Gallagher go, but pointed to the incentive of selling academy players to help comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules. It was also reported that Gallagher was not a part of Maresca’s first-team plans.

Félix’s return to Stamford Bridge after a loan spell two seasons ago has raised eyebrows with some, but Maresca said he’s happy to have the Portuguese international. "He is a good player, he is a talent. The club already knows him from two years ago. He can play different positions with us - inside, as a nine, outside."

What impressed fans, though, was the Italian’s no-nonsense approach to questions about the club’s affairs. One reporter asked whether the length of players’ contracts would affect whether they remained at the club, but he was determined to focus on the pitch: "This is not my problem. I just have to think about who is best for us. If they have six-year or 20-year contracts, I'm just here to make best decisions for the team. The contracts are not my job."

Supporters overwhelmingly reacted positively on X:

However, a few were concerned that his words about the number of players that didn’t feature in his plans might undermine the club in the transfer market - as The Athletic writer Adam Crafton pointed out.

Chelsea will hope to quiet the noise when they get their European campaign under way tomorrow night when they host Servette at Stamford Bridge, with kick-off at 8pm.