Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says he does not have an inflated squad as he is only working with 21 players.
The Blues have been criticised in recent weeks for continuing to add to their ranks and leaving several former stars out of the picture for the opening game of the Premier League.
Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Noni Madueke are three notable absences while academy graduate Conor Gallagher has just been sold to Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have signed Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and numerous young talents this summer.
But it is not an issue for Maresca as he prepares for the Europe Conference League qualifier against Servette on Thursday.
Speaking to the media, he said: “We have a big squad, for me it’s impossible to give everyone minutes so if they’re looking for minutes, probably it is better to leave and in case they don’t leave they have a contract here, they are Chelsea players.
Maresca: Chelsea’s large squad ‘not the mess it looks from outside’@rthur_ferridge https://t.co/sfKTWjInVG
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) August 21, 2024
“I just said and I will say it again, I spoke with Raheem [Sterling] before Manchester City, I said that he is going to struggle to get minutes with us.
“With Chilly [Ben Chilwell], I said he is a lovely guy but with his position, he’s going to struggle with us. It’s not brutal, it’s honest.
“I think it is the manager whose job is to keep the players happy but this is something almost impossible because they train every day to get minutes and at the end only 11 are going to play.
“Some of them will play some minutes from the bench. It’s almost impossible to keep all of them happy.
“The only thing I can say is that I try to be honest with all of them in this moment, the noise is from outside.
“More than 15 players, they are training apart, they are not with the team.
“The first 11 we want, it’s the squad we want. The first 11 we had against Manchester City is not always going to be the same 11 all season.
Enzo Maresca taking no prisoners when it comes to Raheem Sterling:
“If he wants a chat again I’ll tell him exactly the same things that I already told him. I don’t have anything new to tell him because I was quite clear.” 😳
🔗 https://t.co/OSvK8ja95H pic.twitter.com/H7JJNuDAFr
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) August 21, 2024
“But, the squad is the squad that I want in this moment. I am not working with 42 players. I’m working in this moment with 21 players.
“The other 15 or 20, they are training apart. It’s not a mess, from how it looks outside.”
Chelsea have also had to contend with injuries to key players over the last 12 months.
This had led to Maresca suggesting he may nominate a few more leaders from the squad to pick up more responsibility while Reece James is out.
He added: “Reece is the captain, then we have three, four more captains like Enzo [Fernandez], I’m thinking of nominating one or two new captains, to give them more responsibilities, not just because they are 21 or 22 years old.
“One of them could be Levi [Colwill], I love Levi but i think in terms of personality, if he can give one step forward in these kind of things.
“He can become a complete player with all the aspects. But it’s not just Levi, I’m thinking of one or two more.”
