Who will exit Chelsea? How Blues could cut 41-man squad
By Luke Oluoch, August 7, 2026Chelsea are in the familiar position of having a large number of players on their books, with 41 senior players and only 25 days remaining in the transfer window to resolve the situation.
With no European football this campaign, new boss Xabi Alonso is keen to significantly reduce his squad, with a number of players either available for sale or on loan.
While the Blues can effectively register as many players as they want, despite the Premier League’s 25-man squad rule, with under-21 and homegrown regulations covering the vast majority of players on their books—the Spaniard knows having players not involved cannot be good for squad harmony.
But, even to get the squad down to a more manageable 25 senior players, Chelsea will need to offload 16 players by the start of September.
Outlawed practice
The Blues have had players stranded in a ‘bomb squad’ in the past, like Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi last season. That practice has since been outlawed by FIFA, increasing the importance of drastically reducing the squad.
Had Chelsea qualified for Europe, they would have been at risk of being unable to register certain players, as was the case during their 2024-25 Conference League-winning campaign.
They are also bound by a UEFA settlement agreement for three more seasons, but European football’s governing body has acknowledged they have made efforts to improve their finances.
The Blues are accustomed to this level of player trading and are boosted by the fact they have largely built Alonso’s squad through the signings of Morgan Rogers, Marco Palestra, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson, and Maxence Lacroix, with full-back Pep Chavarria close to joining from Rayo Vallecano.
The size of the squad is an issue that needs addressing though. On Wednesday, they had 21 substitutes for their 1-0 defeat by Juventus in Hong Kong. Just five were academy players.
Chelsea were keen to carry a large squad into the final few days of their Asian tour. They face AC Milan in Indonesia on Saturday before taking on Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim on Sunday and will likely field two different XIs.
But, it remains a remarkable number given both Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were absent from the midweek match because of knocks sustained in the previous friendly, and striker Emmanuel Emegha is continuing his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury at the training ground.
Players still on holiday
There are also five players not even training with the first team: Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Marc Guiu, David Datro Fofana, and Caleb Wiley. They are all available for either permanent or loan moves.
Seven players remain on holiday until next week having featured in the latter stages of the World Cup: Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Morgan Rogers, Henderson, Lacroix, Valentin Barco and Malo Gusto.
Defender Trevoh Chalobah is close to joining Como for KSh 5.41 billion, including add-ons, while goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is joining sister club Strasbourg on loan.
Chelsea nearing Ksh2.84 billion deal for Rayo defender Chavarria