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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has told Raheem Sterling and the rest of the Blues’ ‘bomb squad’ that they have no future at the club. The England winger was told last summer to find a new club.
He was joined by Axel Disasi, David Datro Fofana and Renato Veiga in being instructed to move on. Each of the players managed to find moves last season.
Sterling joined Arsenal on loan, while Disasi signed for Aston Villa for the second-half of the campaign. Elsewhere, Fofana was sent to Turkish side Goztepe, while Veiga sealed a switch to Juventus.
But none of those four managed to seal moves away this time around, meaning that they will stay with Chelsea until at least the January transfer window. And asked about their respective futures, Maresca revealed that they remain out of his plans.
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“They are Chelsea players because they have a contract with the club,” he said. “In this moment, they are still training apart. The idea is to continue in exactly the same way.
“Since we started the season, I didnt see one of them. I didn't see Renato (Veiga), I didn't see Axel (Disasi), I didn’t see Raheem (Sterling), because they train at a different time on a different pitch. I haven’t seen them since we started the season.”
Asked if there could be a way back into first-team contention, Maresca replied: “With us? No.”
Sterling, 30, was linked with a move to Premier League rivals Fulham late in the window, albeit a move failed to materialise. Datro Fofana was also linked with a summer move away from Stamford Bridge over the summer, but still remains at the club. Elsewhere, Disasi had a number of options including Sunderland, Bournemouth, West Ham and Everton.
Explaining why a move to did not come to fruition, he said: “Indeed, these three clubs [Sunderland, Bournemouth, and West Ham] were interested. Then chronologically, they came in different ways.
“I would say that the first one, I think, if I remember correctly, was Sunderland. It was Sunderland, then it was Bournemouth, and then it was West Ham. It was really the last day at the end when [Nayef] Aguerd left for Marseille, I imagine.
“Then there was the one [Igor Julio] who finally left for West Ham from Brighton. He was supposed to go to Crystal Palace and then with the transfer of [Marc] Guehi. Frankly, it was mixed up. It was a bit chaotic.”
He added: “Then I would say that the biggest and the most interested was Bournemouth... who arrived, I think, a week before the end. They came and explained to me a little bit about the project, how the team plays and so on. And uh, well, my thinking is different compared to Sunderland where I said to myself, ‘Why not?’. So I do this all week with Bournemouth, and West Ham, like I told you, comes at the end.
“But between Bournemouth and West Ham, you have Monaco coming in the middle - and there you get me by the feelings you see. In fact, when Monaco arrives, all the memories come back... Then the thinking, you see, it changes. Honestly, everything was me in my head.”
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