"Who?" - Mauricio Pochettino didn't know two Chelsea players existed in brutal press conference

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was left stunned when asked about two of his players he forgot existed.

Chelsea have not exactly been frugal with their spending since Todd Boehly bought the club in 2022.

Last season the London side spent over £600million on players and have followed that up with almost £350million of signings this summer.

While there have been departures from the club - this summer has seen the exits of stars including Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic - new boss Pochettino is faced with a problem he's never really had before.

Last season then-Chelsea manager Graham Potter made no secret of the bloated nature of his squad.

Details emerged that Chelsea's squad was so big that some players had to get changed for training in the corridors at Cobham.

Now it appears that Pochettino is experiencing a similar issue.

According to Chelsea's website, the Argentine's squad contains 32 players, not including outcasts like Romelu Lukaku.

With such a big group it's always going to be difficult to keep track of everyone, and that's exactly what happened after Chelsea's 3-0 win against Luton on Friday.

Pochettino was asked by a journalist about two players who weren't included in the matchday squad - defender Malang Sarr and goalkeeper Jamie Cumming.

Chelsea signed former Nice defender Sarr as a free agent in 2020, but he spent the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons out on loan.

Cumming is a product of Chelsea's famed academy, and started his side's first pre-season friendly against Wrexham last month.

When asked why neither were in the squad for the Luton game, Pochettino replied: "Who?"

Looking utterly confused, the Argentine coach continued: "Oh my goodness. I don't know what I can tell you. I don't know because you surprised me! It's like you punch [me in the face] and I am like this [startled]. Because we were talking about Luton!"

Nice save, Mauricio.

Perhaps he was just genuinely surprised by the question, but it did feel like Pochettino had genuinely forgotten that Sarr and Cumming are in his squad. That doesn't say much for their chances of staying at the club.

Topics: Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino, Premier League, Luton Town, Todd Boehly

Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton is a Sports Trends Writer at SPORTbible. He has previously worked with publications including the Manchester Evening News, GOAL and BBC Sport. He is a football fanatic, but also dabbles in tennis and American football. He enjoys running, cooking and watching non-league football.

@alex_brotherton