Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca seems to have pulled a major U-turn over one of his axed stars as a photo from Cobham training reveals his surprise change of heart.
The Blues are back to winning ways after suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat to newly-promoted Sunderland in October, with Chelsea winning three out of their last four in all competitions and briefly climbing to second in the Premier League table.
Moises Caicedo
7.30
Joao Pedro
7.21
Trevoh Chalobah
7.16
Pedro Neto
7.08
Marc Cucurella
7.00
via WhoScored
The in-form Joao Pedro scored Chelsea’s only goal of the game to seal a dominant 1-0 victory over London rivals Tottenham, maintaining Chelsea’s impressive derby record, and followed that up with a comprehensive 3-0 triumph over bottom-side Wolves in their last match before the international break.
The victory came despite Maresca making eight changes from their midweek 2-2 draw with Qarabağ in the Champions League, continuing his rotation policy that has seen a grand total of 93 starting eleven changes in all competitions so far this season — the most of any Premier League side.
Their plethora of injury problems throughout the campaign, which has seen Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, Enzo Fernández, Pedro Neto, Dario Essugo, Liam Delap, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos and Josh Acheampong all sidelined at various points, has forced Maresca’s hand in this regard.
Chelsea also have 25 players in their squad who’ve been given at least 45 minutes of playing time this term, with only Nottingham Forest and West Ham (24) coming anywhere close to that number.
Two of the only Chelsea players who’ve not seen a single minute thus far are ‘bomb squad’ outcasts Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.
Both men, after failing to secure moves away in the summer, are training in isolation, with Sterling causing quite a stir when he posted an image of him training alone and very late at night in what looked like a barren training complex.
This social media post even prompted the PFA to intervene and ensure that Chelsea weren’t treating the duo unfairly, coming after Maresca previously stated there was no way back for either man and they’d continue training away from the group.
When asked if they could play their way back into the first team, Maresca’s reply was brief, and it was a resounding ‘no’ (The Mail).
Sterling, who spent last term on a failed loan spell at Arsenal, has been linked with a move to Celtic ahead of the January window. Disasi, meanwhile, was surprisingly spotted training with the first team this week — despite Maresca previously saying there was no way.
Enzo Maresca pulls U-turn over axed Axel Disasi as Cobham photo reveals surprise call
In a twist, The Mail have shared a photo from Cobham of Disasi tussling with Liam Delap in an international break session, with Maresca now going back on his word and allowing the Frenchman to compete with his squad after all.
While there was still no sign of Sterling, Disasi’s recall to first-team training makes for an intriguing development, and one which will make on-lookers wonder whether he’s done enough to earn back Maresca’s favour.
After playing only 18 per cent of available Premier League minutes under Maresca last term, Disasi failed to establish himself as a regular starter domestically, despite captaining them in the Conference League and largely playing as an emergency right-back.
Aston Villa sealed his loan signing for the remainder of 2024/2025 last January, coming after Disasi reportedly rejected a loan to Tottenham, insisting on competing with Unai Emery’s side in the Champions League instead.
Disasi’s brief flashes ultimately failed to convince Villa to make the move permanent, and when the summer transfer window opened, Disasi found himself back in Chelsea’s notorious bomb squad alongside Sterling.
Having rejected moves to Crystal Palace and West Ham among others, and despite rumoured interest from clubs in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Disasi snubbed multiple opportunities, leaving him stranded at Stamford Bridge.
With the January window looming, Maresca could well be planning to hand the 27-year-old some minutes as a way to drive up interest from suitors, but we’re purely speculating here.