Chelsea banish four players from Club World Cup squad but hand chance to young star
Tony Mogan
Nottingham Forest FC v Chelsea FC - Premier League
Maresca and his side head to the US for the summer competition (Picture: Getty Images)
Andrey Santos has been named in Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad with four players left out of the group travelling to the US.
Chelsea and Manchester City will be the Premier League’s representation at the revamped competition which gets underway on Sunday in Florida.
Blues midfielder Santos will have a role to play following an excellent season on loan at Strasbourg.
The Brazilian is the only member of Chelsea’s vast loan army to return to the first-team squad for the Club World Cup hoping to be part of Enzo Maresca’s plans next season.
Central midfield is an area of the pitch where Chelsea are blessed with talent in with Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia battling for game time.
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‘In principle, I’m staying at Chelsea,’ he told AS earlier this month. ‘I want to play, I want to get minutes so I can earn my place at the World Cup. I want to establish myself at Chelsea, I want to play regularly and be an undisputed starter and win titles in this shirt.’
Santos will hope game time in the US can solidify his place in the side ahead of the new Premier League season with new signings Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr also in the squad.
But the futures of a number of other Chelsea stars look bleak.
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Santos starred out on loan last season (Picutre: Getty Images)
Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix and Axel Disasi are among those to have been left out with the trio expected to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.
Sterling and Felix endured thoroughly underwhelming spells away from the club on loan – Sterling spending the season at Arsenal and Felix shipped out to AC Milan just six months after returning to Stamford Bridge.
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Petrovic also left out of the squad (Picture: Getty Images)
Disasi joined Aston Villa on loan in January having been deemed surplus to requirements by Maresca.
Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic has also been left out of the squad.
The goalkeeper excelled at Strasbourg alongside Santos last season but will have no role to play in the US despite Chelsea missing out on a deal to sign Milan sot stopper Mike Maignan.
The Blues failed to agree a fee with the Rossoneri for their goalkeeper before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.
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