Enzo Maresca tells Chelsea players: Nobody is safe

Meanwhile Mikel Arteta has ruled out a move for Raheem Sterling

Enzo Maresca, the Chelsea manager who has already separated those players who have a future at the club from those who do not, says he will be just as ruthless when it comes to selecting his team.
Chelsea now have to find new clubs for around 13 players who have been cut from a large pool of first team professionals, in a final week of the transfer window that also encompasses two difficult away games. Maresca said after the 2-0 first leg win in the Uefa Europa Conference League play-off against Servette on Thursday that he would be just as bold when it came to picking his team.
It has been Maresca, the club say, who has selected those to be moved on, including Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah, Kepa Arrizabalaga and perennial loanee Romelu Lukaku. While those players train separately, as they await the outcome of negotiations on sales and loans, Maresca has to adapt to the rhythm of Premier League games at the weekend and, providing Chelsea prevail in Geneva on Thursday, a curious third-tier European competition.
Maresca admitted that in terms of his first choice XI he was “far away” from deciding its exact composition. The side play Wolves away on Sunday. “I judge the first XI depending on how they work every day,” Maresca said. “If they are bad in a training session and they don’t train with intensity, they are not going to play.
“If they don’t train well from Sunday to Thursday – they are not going to play. [Either] in the Premier League and they are not going to play on Thursday [against Servette].
“Chelsea is a demanding club. You need to work hard, to fight until the end to get your place, and to be 100 per cent. If you think I’m going to give you a chance without working hard, [you can] forget about that. First XI tonight was this. We will see about the next game. I said about the goalkeepers. It’s about performance. If Robert [Sanchez] continues in the same way he will play Premier League, if not Filip [Jorgensen] will play. This is the way I like to work with the players.”
Maresca did not deny that the club might even make more signings – but he stressed only those that would improve the team. “If we sign for [the sake of] signing, it’s better that we don’t sign because we don’t need to [do that],” he said.
Maresca added: “But if we are going to sign players because they are going to help us improve, sure we will need players – otherwise we are happy with the way we are.”
Maresca said that Joao Felix, back at the club as a permanent £46 million signing after his Atletico loan spell last year, could play as a No 9 for Chelsea. “For me he can do that [play as a No 9] fantastically,” Maresca said. “Or dropping in to give us an extra man when we need more passes and more possession and then to find the right moment to attack. he can play as an attacking midfielder and outside [wide], so he can play in different positions.”
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said on Friday that he has “a really strong feeling” for Sterling – but ruled out any possibility of attempting to sign the winger this summer.
Asked if he was tempted to give Sterling a call, Arteta said: “No, but I can talk about my time with Raheem. It was exceptional, we built a really strong relationship together. He was unbelievable at the time we were together and he taught me a lot as well. About individuals, how they play and how we give them support and help them. He’s someone I have a really strong feeling about.”
Jason Burt