Mauricio Pochettino leaves five Chelsea players out of pre-season squad

Mauricio Pochettino has left five Chelsea players out of his pre-season plans as he looks to trim down the squad.

The Blues had around far too many players on their books last season, meaning there were regularly between 33 and 40 stars in first-team training and three January additions couldn't be added to their Champions League squad.

What's more, Thiago Silva revealed the club had to extend the size of the dressing room as it was too small to accomodate all the players.

There's been a huge clear-out already this summer, however, with Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Mateo Kovacic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N'Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta all high-profile departures.

Pochettino has been putting players through their paces at Chelsea' Cobham training base for around two weeks and now the team will play League Two newcomers Wrexham at the Kenan Memorial Stadium in North Carolina on Thursday.

But five players have been omitted from the travelling party. According to the Daily Mail, Hakim Ziyech, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the returning Romelu Lukaku are all surplus to requirements and are not part of the squad.

Image: Getty

The trio are not fancied by Pochettino and were told to report for training at Cobham on Tuesday, a day after Chelsea fly out to the United States.

Marseille are in for Aubameyang, who only for Chelsea last summer but scored just one Premier League goal and found himself out of favour.

Ziyech's mooted move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr fell through after a medical uncovered a knee problem, while Lukaku has interest from both Al Hilal and Juventus, who want him to stay in Italy.

Image: Getty

Lukaku spent last season on loan at Champions League finalists Inter Milan but the Nerazzurri are no longer interested in signing him permanently for a second time.

The other two stars left at Cobham are youngsters Omari Hutchinson and Harvey Vale.

As well as the Wrexham friendly, Chelsea also take on Brighton, Newcastle, Fulham and Borussia Dortmund in pre-season.

Topics: Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea, Premier League, Hakim Ziyech, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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