Chelsea have made the bold decision to exclude nearly £150million worth of talent from their Club World Cup squad, including Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix. The Blues are preparing to jet off to the US in the coming days to kick-start their tournament campaign.
Enzo Maresca's team will face MLS side LAFC in the group stage, before taking on Flamengo and ES Tunis. In the lead up to the tournament, the Blues boss has made some ruthless decisions regarding his squad selection.
Raheem Sterling, who cost the club £50million, has been left behind following a disappointing loan spell at Arsenal last season. Joao Felix, a £45million acquisition, has also been cut from the squad.
Felix, the Portuguese forward, returned to Stamford Bridge on a permanent deal last summer but was quickly loaned out to AC Milan after just a few months. Defender Axel Disasi, who spent the latter half of last season with Aston Villa, has also been left out.
Perhaps the most unexpected decision is the omission of goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic. The Serbian was anticipated to step up following Chelsea's unsuccessful attempt to sign French goalkeeper Mike Maignan from AC Milan, reports the Mirror.
Petrovic had an impressive loan stint with French team Strasbourg last term and would have provided competition for Chelsea's current goalkeepers Robert Sánchez, Filip Jorgensen and Mike Penders. However, the west London club have justified their decision by stating that the Club World Cup is an extension of the 2024/25 season, hence they want consistency over their loanees - the majority of whom have been left behind. The lone exception to the no-new-signing policy at Chelsea is Andrey Santos, who has rejoined the squad ahead of the summer tournament.
The Telegraph reports that there are now several clubs showing interest in securing Petrovic's services on a permanent basis. The 25-year-old joined from New England Revolution in 2023 and clocked up 31 appearances in his inaugural season before his loan move to Strasbourg. His contract with Chelsea runs until 2030.
Meanwhile, Maresca has already pointed to his desire to add the Club World Cup to the Conference League title that Chelsea have already won. He said: “When you are at Chelsea, your goal is always to win.
“Our goal – each and every single game – will always be to try to win them all. You need to see it [replicating coaches of years gone by] as a source of fantastic motivation. When we’re there, that will be one of our goals: to try to win it.”