Chelsea head into their Premier League opener against Fulham with up to 12 players working separately from Xabi Alonso's first-team squad at Cobham — and the club is keen to make one thing clear: this is not a bomb squad situation.
Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Mykhailo Mudryk, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Axel Disasi are all part of the separate unit. So are new signings Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, which is why Chelsea insiders are pushing back hard against any 2022-era comparisons. Henderson and Welbeck are simply getting up to speed on individual workload programmes. The rest? A more complicated picture.
A squad that needs serious surgery
41 first-team players listed on the official website. That figure doesn't even include Disasi. Alonso is working with the sporting directors to cut numbers before the league kicks off, and the make-up of this separate group tells you exactly where that process stands.
Delap has a price tag north of £50 million. Jackson won't move for less than £65 million. Tosin and Disasi are available, with Premier League and overseas interest — though nothing close to done. Mudryk is being offered out on loan with no taker confirmed yet, despite his recent return from suspension.
Chelsea are using the same first-team facilities for all groups, which is the meaningful distinction from previous regimes. But access to a nice gym doesn't change the underlying reality: these players are being managed toward the exit, not integrated into the manager's plans.
What this means for the season ahead
Emmanuel Emegha, signed from RC Strasbourg this summer, is expected to compete for the No. 9 role alongside Welbeck and Joao Pedro in Alonso's system. That effectively tells you where Jackson stands — his valuation has to be met, or Chelsea carry the awkwardness of a £65 million striker frozen out of first-team sessions.
With the Fulham match days away, Chelsea's starting XI looks reasonably settled. It's the other 20-odd names on the books that represent the real pre-season headache. Bloated squads slow down everything — tactical cohesion, wages, morale — and at £65 million asking prices in a cooling market, some of these exits could drag well into August.
Jackson's Chelsea future likely hinges on whether a club blinks first. So far, nobody has.
