Maresca wants Sterling but says Chelsea must trim
Enzo Maresca wants Raheem Sterling to stay at Stamford Bridge but has acknowledged Chelsea must trim its bloated squad.
Sterling was omitted from the squad as the Blues started its 2024-2025 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.
The England international had featured in the first match across the past 11 league seasons for Chelsea and former clubs City and Liverpool.
Sterling's representatives issued a statement prior to kick-off seeking "clarity" after the 29-year-old was left in the cold, along with Trevoh Chalobah, Romelu Lukaku and Conor Gallagher.
Maresca said prior to the match that the decision was based on "technical" aspects, and reiterated that sentiment in his post-match conference – although he conceded outgoing transfers are needed.
"The only thing I can say again is it's a technical decision, it's nothing more than that," Maresca said after his first league game in charge of the Blues.
"I want Raheem Sterling, but I want all the 30 players that we have, but there's no space for all of them. So, for some of them, they have to leave."
The statement surrounding Sterling's future had disappointed numerous pundits before Chelsea's opening-game clash with City, which won thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic.
Speaking on television in the UK, Jamie Redknapp urged Sterling to "play better" and "just get on with it", while former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher had a similar conclusion.
"Massive fan of Raheem as a player and a lad," Carragher wrote on social media. "Not a fan of the Chelsea setup with [the] owners, but this statement is ridiculous!
"As a camp... We look forward to gaining clarity! No need for a statement, especially an hour before kick-off! Just play better."
Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Armando Broja and Carney Chukwuemeka were all absent from the Chelsea match squad, too, leaving Maresca with more decisions to make over players' futures.
"Axel is only just coming back from an injury, while Chilly [Chilwell] has been ill," the former Leicester City boss added, having previously said Chilwell is a likely candidate to leave.
"Every case is a bit different. Carney, he's a very good player but with his injuries in the past the best thing for him is to play 30, 35 games in a row and to show himself he's fit and how good he is.
"With us, is he going to play 35 games? I'm not sure."
