Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettio won’t stop until all the club’s unwanted players are gone, as he intends to trim his bloated squad to ensure the right balance.
Despite sanctioning numerous departures in the first month of the summer transfer window, the Blues have selected 29 players for their United States tour.
Pochettino’s travelling cast doesn’t include Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi, with the club actively working on finding them new homes.
After Chelsea and Newcastle United shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday, Pochettino pinpointed the significance of reducing the squad numbers.
“First of all we need to define the squad,” the Argentine manager said, as relayed by The Athletic.
“We are 29, 30 players here, and it’s massive. At the moment the dynamic is really good. They are very good guys sharing a good time together.
“But it’s difficult because in every game maybe three, four, five players cannot play, and that makes the mood difficult.
“It’s about creating a squad with a good balance with people who have the opportunity to play and compete for a place.
“That is a challenge for us in the transfer window to build a good balance, and then if players are not happy because they believe they are not going to play, we will find a solution to fix the situation.”
Pochettino fears the ballooning squad could be damaging for Chelsea and the players, trying to make his decision to offload more unsettled stars abundantly clear.
“What we cannot do is have a massive squad with players in America not involved, because it’s going to create a mess,” he added. “Maybe less is more and more is less.
“That is why I need to make clear we don’t need a bigger squad. We need 22, 23, 24 players and that’s it.
“I’m so sorry because maybe the decisions will be tough, but we need to build a good, balanced team if we want to compete for big things.”
Chelsea take on fellow London rivals Fulham at Landover’s FedEx Field on Sunday.
