Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah has reportedly been banned from using the club’s first-team training facilities as Todd Boehly takes a brutal approach to trimming the squad.
The 25-year-old was left out of the pre-season tour squad by Enzo Maresca, although it is understood the club’s sporting directors took the decision to sell the centre-back, not the Italian boss.
Chalobah has accepted his future lies away from Stamford Bridge and is poised to complete his move away from the club in the coming weeks, with interest from Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
Chalobah has been training with the Under-21 development squad and even featured in their friendly against Boreham Wood.
But he has been brutally told he cannot even join his team-mates in the senior squad at Cobham after being frozen out by the club, according to The Telegraph.
Chalobah has been kept away from the first-team building at the club’s Cobham training base. He has been joined in training with the Under-21s by out-of-favour duo Armando Broja and Romelu Lukaku, who are set to follow Chalobah out of the exit door.
Chalobah, who has spent his entire career with the west London club aside from loans with Lorient, Huddersfield and Ipswich, has not been present in the first-team dressing room or in the canteen since Chelsea returned from their pre-season tour of the USA.
The report claims Chelsea believe it is better for players who will not be considered for a first-team place under Maresca to focus on finding a new club and not becoming a distraction to those preparing for the new season.
But Chalobah is under contract until 2028 after signing a long-term deal in November 2022 and may need some convincing to leave the club. He has expressed his disappointment at being forced out of the club against his will, having already rejected a move to Nottingham Forest last season.
Chelsea fans have made clear their disapproval at how Chalobah and his fellow Cobham graduate Conor Gallagher have been treated by the club, despite their exemplary service since making their first-team debuts. An image went viral on social media of a fan holding up a banner during their pre-season tour in the United States that read ‘Trev deserved better’.
Gallagher is set to complete a £37million switch to Atletico Madrid after turning down three short-term contract offers, which were deemed to be attempts by the club to increase his value in the transfer market rather than keep him at the club.
Broja and Lukaku are expected to seal permanent transfers away from the club as Chelsea owner Boehly looks to bring in some funds to balance the books after splashing out £170m this summer.
The club are finalising a £35m deal for Atletico’s Samu Omorodion and are set to sign Pedro Neto from Wolves for £54m. It is thought selling Chalobah, Broja and Lukaku could raise around £85m in total.
