Enzo Maresca said he has been “honest” rather than brutal with Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell as both continue to train away from Chelsea’s first-team squad.
The Chelsea manager believes he has been clear with the “more than 15 players” – including forward Sterling and left-back Chilwell – who are being asked to train apart from his main group.
Maresca said Chelsea look like “a mess… from outside” as they attempt to trim a bloated squad, but he insisted that was far from being the reality.
He also denied there is any further need for “clarity” about Sterling’s status, as the 82-cap England international’s representatives have claimed.
Maresca stated he spoke to Sterling before leaving him out of the squad for Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
He does not expect to have further conversations with Sterling prior to the play-off match against Servette in the Conference League on Thursday.
The player’s representatives said Sterling had expected to be involved against City, which led Maresca to be asked in a news conference on Wednesday whether his handling of the situation had been “brutal”.
Maresca said: “Brutal? I don’t think so. I try to be honest. I can repeat again if it’s not clear: I spoke with Raheem before the City game. I said he is going to struggle to get minutes with us and this is the reason why he is out of the squad.
“With Chilly, I said he is a lovely guy, but he is going to struggle because of his position. He is going to struggle. If you define this as brutal, it’s up to you to decide. For me, it’s not brutal, it’s just honest.”
Sterling has made 81 appearances for Chelsea since joining from Manchester City for £50m in July 2022.
“I spoke with Raheem one-on-one the day before City and I explained him exactly the situation. I didn’t see Raheem after the game,” Maresca said.
“He is training apart, as I said, but in case I sit with Raheem, I will 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.”
Sterling and Chilwell are among a host of players now deemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge and could be sold before deadline day.
Maresca is frustrated by persistent accusations that he is working with a 42-man squad.
“I’m not working with 42 or 43 players. You like to say we have 42 or 43 players but more than 15 players are training apart, they are not with the team,” said the former Leicester City manager.
“I don’t see them, so it’s not a mess like it looks from outside. Absolutely not.”
The English summer transfer window closes on August 30 and Chelsea could allow several players to depart as they seek a more manageable squad size.
“As I said many times, many things can happen in the last 10 days, the last week, so we’ll see,” Maresca said.
Reece James will miss the Servette game because of injury, and Joao Felix has not been registered in time to be involved following his £45m move from Ateltico Madrid.