'Anything can happen' - 42 players, but do Chelsea have a plan?

On Wednesday, Enzo Maresca confirmed "more than 15" senior Chelsea players were training away from the first-team squad

Chelsea's oversized squad has been the subject of criticism and led to them being accused of "recruiting badly" by pundits.

There are 42 first-team players listed on the club website but many have not been seen in training, with manager Enzo Maresca fielding questions about their futures throughout his two-month spell at Stamford Bridge.

He left Raheem Sterling, arguably the club's most famous player, out of his first Premier League squad in the 2-0 home defeat by Manchester City on Sunday.

England midfielder Conor Gallagher has left for Atletico Madrid - in an unpopular move with some sections of the fanbase - with fellow home-grown star Armando Broja set to join Ipswich in a loan move with an obligation to buy.

A whole host of other players are facing uncertain futures including defenders Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi and Trevoh Chalobah, and midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka.

Disasi returned to face Servette in their 2-0 win in the Uefa Conference League play-off first leg at Stamford Bridge, but the rest remain out in the cold.

Noni Madueke scored Chelsea's second goal of the night but has also been linked with a move to Newcastle.

"The reality is until the transfer window is closed anything can happen," said Maresca. "But for sure, Noni is the type of player I like."

Meanwhile, Chelsea have still been the most active Premier League team in the transfer window, signing 11 players, with a £45m move for Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid the latest.

It has left them open to criticism from some fans and sections of the media for stockpiling players, not having a plan and too easily discarding academy talent.

Much of that criticism is directed at chairman Todd Boehly, despite co-owner Behdad Eghbali actually being the most influential member of the American consortium that purchased the club in 2022.

What is the plan at Chelsea?

Chelsea are, to an extent, stockpiling players.

They have spent £1.5bn on young stars from across the world and built a first-team squad that does need slimming down.

There have been between 22 and 28 senior players in Maresca's group during pre-season, and several will need to leave.

Sterling and Chilwell have been offered to clubs, Chalobah is widely known to be available for sale and talks are ongoing to send Romelu Lukaku and Chukwuemeka to Napoli.

All six overseas loan spots will be filled by the end of the summer. It is likely three players will join partner club Strasbourg in France, and others will go out on loan within English football.

The idea is to reduce the wage bill and sign younger players before they become stars, saving Chelsea money but hedging their bets across multiple youngsters in the hope some become superstars.

The long contracts allow Chelsea to keep their wage bill down, spread the cost of the transfer over a long period and when contract renewal talks come up, it gives them increased leverage - as players could get left with take-it-or-leave-it offers, with the club able to extend negotiations over a longer period.

Chelsea claim to have reduced their wage bill by more than 50% under the new Boehly and Eghbali-led ownership group.

It is hard to independently verify that figure without the data being released but, of the contracts we do know about, it appears the wages are below market rate for many players.

Before midfielder Cole Palmer's contract renewal, he was known to be on less than £100,000 a week, British transfer-record midfielder Moises Caicedo is on £150,000 a week, according to comments made by his agent last season, and Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk is known to be on £97,000 a week despite costing an initial £62m.

If prospects do not become stars, Chelsea believe there will be a market to sell them while they are on comparatively low wages.

How is the oversized squad managed?

Maresca clarified he had "21 or 22 players" in the training ground during his pre-match news conference before Thursday's Conference League play-off against Servette.

There are then a further "15 players" training in a group which is colloquially being called the 'bomb squad' by some national newspapers, but internally is known as the 'loan group'.

This loan group is led by loan technical coach Carlo Cudicini, with coach Ed Brand acting as his assistant.

They use the first-team facilities but train at a different time to the first team to ensure they do not impact on Maresca's core group.

It has helped Maresca keep his first-team squad in more of a bubble, to avoid being around too many disgruntled players.

Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was asked by BBC Sport whether the squad are affected by the noise around too many players.

"We are in a bubble," he said. "You can't let that sort of thing affect you. We just go out every day and train as well as we can, getting ready for the matches.

"Everything that happens outside is not up to us. We have one job and that is it."

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Lucas Bergstrom, Chalobah, Chilwell, Tino Anjorin, Alex Matos, Harvey Vale, Angelo Gabriel, Broja, Lukaku, Sterling, Deivid Washington and David Datro Fofana are among those believed to be part of the loan group.

A financially risky strategy?

According to research by Sky Sports, based on data from Transfermarkt, Chelsea players have a combined 191 years left on their contracts.

That will be seen as a positive at Stamford Bridge as they look to avoid losing players on free transfers or by running down their deals.

Defenders Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger left on free transfers to Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively in 2022, as the owners were buying the club from Roman Abramovich.

They believe the reduced wage contracts will allow them to sell players when needed.

And that will point to how they have stayed compliant with the Premier League's stringent profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Where the criticism does stick

The simple truth is Chelsea have spent a lot and not won a trophy since the takeover.

The structure and model has proved chaotic while being radically overhauled, leading to multiple managers struggling - Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel all having periods in charge before being dispensed with.

The use of swap deals, whereby players are exchanged as well as cash spent in transfer moves, also may be an indicator that - although they remain compliant with PSR - those rules are always on the club's mind.

Chelsea have announced losses of £90m and £121m in the two sets of accounts released since Boehly's group took control, and not qualified for the Champions League in either season since the takeover - finishing 12th and sixth.

Of course, there were many issues after the £2.5bn takeover, with Chelsea having received sanctions at the end of Abramovich's time at the club.

But the Blues are now hoping to return to the Champions League and win silverware this season under Maresca, in the third year of this ownership.