Chelsea face squad issues after Champions League exit
Chelsea are facing a further squad-size related headache due to game time fears next season after they crashed out of the Champions League.
On top of a number of players already being unhappy about the club’s plight this term and the struggle for minutes amid Chelsea’s bloated squad, the club are now staring at the additional prospect of having even fewer games to offer their players next season due to no European football.
The situation is one that has been being monitored and caused increasing concern, including among some players and their representatives, as the season has unfolded and the likelihood that Chelsea would not qualify for continental competition has grown.
Those worries are now closer to becoming a reality after they were knocked out of the Champions League.
Tuesday’s exit against Real Madrid has ended their hopes of winning the competition, which in turn represented their best hope of qualifying for the tournament again next season.
In the Premier league they are 11th and 10 points off Brighton who are in seventh, potentially the lowest position that will come with a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.
Chelsea have seven league games left and have played two more matches than Brighton.
Chelsea’s January business left them with a huge squad of over 30 players leaving former head coach Graham Potter and his caretaker replacement Frank Lampard forced to omit a number of players for each game who are fit to play.
Chelsea already have Christopher Nkunku, Malo Gusto and, subject to a work permit, Andrey Santos due to link-up with the squad in the summer, a number of players returning from loans and are planning further squad strengthening.
Their squad size and FFP concerns were already going to necessitate sales while the number of matches they are set to have to go around next season has become an additional consideration expected to influence the futures of a number of Chelsea players.
Thiago Silva addressed some of the difficulties that have already been caused by the size of Chelsea’s squad following their quarter-final, second leg loss to Real Madrid.
He said: ‘We had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn’t fit the size of the squad. A positive point is that there are amazing players within the squad but in the other hand there is always players that are going to be unhappy.
‘There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play. The manager can only pick 11 from 30 something. That’s tough.
‘Some can’t make the squad. We signed eight in January. We need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes.’
