Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi have been removed from first-team training, using different pitch, gym, and dressing room facilities away from the main squad since the 2025-26 season began.
“They are Chelsea players, but at the moment they are training separately and the plan is to continue in this way,” Maresca said in a press conference ahead of the club’s Premier League fixture with Brentford. He added, “Since the start of the season, I haven’t seen them … They train at a different time and on a different pitch.”
Despite being registered in Chelsea’s Premier League squad, both Sterling and Disasi appear to have no future under Maresca’s current plans. When asked if there was a way back into the first team, the manager’s response was blunt: “No.”
The pair failed to secure transfers during the most recent window. Disasi reportedly turned down several loan offers, holding out hope of returning to his former club Monaco. Sterling, meanwhile, was linked with moves but stayed at Stamford Bridge, unwilling to leave London.
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Media reports have referred to Sterling and Disasi — along with David Datro Fofana and others — as members of Chelsea’s “bomb squad,” a group of players deemed not part of Maresca’s future setup. They are excluded from training with the main squad and have been described as eating separately and using different facilities.
For Chelsea, sidelining high-profile names like Sterling (who joined in 2022) and Disasi (signed in 2023) sends a strong message about the manager’s intentions and priorities. The move underscores a club in transition, where squad clarity appears to be favouring younger and more tactically aligned players. Whether this clear separation becomes permanent—through transfers or contract conclusions—remains to be seen.
