Chelsea outcast shows brutal reality of ‘bomb squad’ dressing room and fans are furious

Chelsea outcast Axel Disasi has given an eye-opening insight into what it is really like to be part of a Premier League 'bomb squad'.

The term has grown in prominence over recent seasons as club desperately scramble to trim down their oversized squads and get players off the wage bill.

Manchester United's 'bomb squad' initially contained five players - Jadon Sancho, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Tyrell Malacia and Marcus Rashford - at the beginning of the summer before Rashford was loaned out to Barcelona.

As per reports, the remaining quartet are banned from first team training and cannot enter the Carrington training facility until after 5pm.

There are differing reasons why those players are on the fringes, whether that be attitude concerns over Garnacho, significant salaries in the case of Sancho, and poor performances from Antony and Malacia.

The situation at Chelsea is slightly more complex, with the Blues having had 43 first team players on their books at the beginning of last season.

A number of those players were sold but others, such as Disasi, Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka, were sent out on loan and are therefore back, still unwanted, at Stamford Bridge.

Taking to his Instagram account on Friday evening, Disasi posted a series of photos from pre-season, captioning the post: "Life."

One of them was a photo of the 'bomb squad' dressing room, a small rectangular area that featured wooden benches, an air conditioning unit, two windows and a number of name plaques.

Had several players themselves not been pictured, it might have been hard to tell that the dressing room belonged to Chelsea players.

Chilwell, Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu - who has been signed by Burnley since the photo was taken - and Disasi himself all have name plaques visible.

But fans' attentions focused on defender Alfie Gilchrist, who was sat in the corner of the dressing room with his head in his hands.

The 21-year-old came through the Blues academy and was given his first team debut by Mauricio Pochettino in 2023.

A centre-back also capable of playing at right-back, Gilchrist had earned comparisons to John Terry in the academy and Chelsea fans liked what they saw from his early appearances, which included his first senior goal against Everton.

It quickly became clear that Gilchrist wasn't yet ready for regular Premier League football, however, and he spent last season on loan at promotion-chasing Championship side Sheffield United.

But the Blades did not pursue a permanent move for Gilchrist, with The Athletic reporting in June that the defender was likely to explore his options this summer.

Those efforts have thus far not materialised into a move away from Stamford Bridge, though he has been linked with teams in the Championship and the Saudi Pro League.

What dreams are made of. 😍#CFC | #CheEve pic.twitter.com/zlafmBh3Ik

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 16, 2024

Gilchrist played no part in Chelsea's Club World Cup or pre-season campaigns, and was not named in the squad for either of their opening two Premier League matches.

And his situation in particular has left fans less than happy.

One wrote: "I'd argue no footballer deserves to be treated this way, but certainly not Alfie Gilchrist. He's done nothing wrong since making his Chelsea debut."

And a second added: "Imagine being in the shoes of Alfie Gilchrist - lifelong Chelsea fan and being treated like you're simply a name on a piece of paper. Grim."

A third said: "This is just depressing to look at."

And a fourth wrote: "You can find better dressing rooms at Sunday league games."