Enzo Maresca reveals the reason behind Chelsea's £70million star exclusion from Conference League squad

Enzo Maresca has clarified that Wesley Fofana's absence from Chelsea's Conference League squad is not due to any transfer issues.

Chelsea host Swiss side Servette on Thursday in the first-leg of their Conference League play-off with a spot in the group stage at stake.

On Tuesday, the club revealed their squad for the match with several notable omissions, namely Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Tosin Adarabioyo and Fofana.

Summer signing Adarabioyo was later added back to the list having reportedly been left off by mistake due to an admin error.

Sterling and Chilwell’s absence comes as Chelsea attempt to sell off the England Internationals, with Maresca revealing the pair have been excluded from first-team training.

But Fofana’s absence has come as a shock given that he started the Blues’ first game of the season last Sunday, a 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Premier League.

Moreover Chelsea spent over £70million to sign the centre-back from Leicester two years ago, though he has barely played for the club thanks to injuries.

And it is because of injury fear that the 23-year-old will take no part in the clash against Servette, with the Frenchman still very much in Maresca’s plans.

‘Wes Fofana is out because he played the other day, so he can’t play on Thursday,’ the manager explained in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

‘Some decisions are made to take care of the players.’

Much has been made of Chelsea’s transfer business with over 40 first-team players at Stamford Bridge, with Jamie Carragher notably questioning how Maresca can possibly do his job with so many players in training.

But the manager has revealed that he has brutally removed many players from the first-team, adding: ‘It’s the first 11 we want, the squad we want. But the first 11 we had against City is not always going to be the same.

‘I am not working with 42 players. I am working with 21 players. Today’s session was with 20 players, yesterday with 21. In USA, we had 26 or 27 players.’

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