Chelsea have raised plenty of eyebrows with their decision to omit goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from their Club World Cup squad.
According to [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/06/10/chelsea-djordje-petrovic-club-world-cup-mike-maignan/), the 25-year-old will not travel to the United States with the rest of Enzo Maresca’s squad despite his strong performances on loan at RC Strasbourg.
Petrovic isn’t the only one axed from the squad. A number of other loanees have also been omitted. That includes Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, and Axel Disasi.
Chelsea see the Club World Cup as an extension of the 2024/25 season and have chosen to maintain continuity by leaving out players who spent the previous campaign on loan.
Interestingly, Chelsea made an exception for Andrey Santos, who also spent last season on loan at Strasbourg alongside Petrovic.
He was named in the squad in place of Mathis Amougou, who is heading out on loan to Strasbourg. New signings Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, and Mamadou Sarr also made the cut.
Given the season Petrovic had at Strasbourg, his exclusion will come as a massive blow. He was a standout performer for the French side, making 31 appearances in the league.
He kept 10 clean sheets – a tally only bettered by Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier (11) and Stade Rennais shot-stopper Brice Samba, who won the Golden Glove (12).
Petrovic’s exclusion has raised doubts about his long-term future at Chelsea.
[The Blues initially planned to give him a chance to battle for a first-team spot](https://footballtoday.com/2025/03/31/chelsea-to-give-petrovic-penders-a-chance-to-usurp-sanchez-as-number-one-goalkeeper/) along with Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, and Mike Penders.
But they saw an opportunity to snap up Mike Maignan from AC Milan for a cut-price deal and explored it. However, they couldn’t agree a fee with the Serie A giants.
With the deal now dead in the water, Chelsea will use what they have at their disposal, although at least one of them will leave the club this summer, either on loan or permanently.
After his exclusion, it appears Petrovic could be the one to make way despite proving himself in France.
But if Chelsea had any sense, they’d bin the error-prone Sanchez in favour of Petrovic, who has refined his game to become one of the finest keepers in Europe.