Chelsea is on the hunt for its first piece of European silverware since May 2021 when the Blues captured the UEFA Champions League over Manchester City.
The Blues didn't qualify for Europe for the 2023–24 season after a dismal year in the Premier League left them in 12th place in the table after 38 matches played. However, Mauricio Pochettino guided Chelsea to sixth place in the standings before the team opted to appoint Enzo Maresca as its new manager.
Although Chelsea isn't playing in the Champions League this season—it hasn't since the 2022–23 season—the Blues will take part in the Conference League, a competition it should not take lightly. This season's Conference League will be Chelsea's first involvement in Europe since that team crashed out of the Champions League quarterfinals to Real Madrid in April 2023.
Notable omissions from the squad include defenders Wesley Fofana and Ben Chilwell, midfielder Romeo Lavia and star forward Cole Palmer.
Maresca confirmed that he left the three players out of the squad to manage their minutes and prevent injuries: "It's very clear. We try to protect the players. Romeo last year struggled to play [due to injury]. Wes Fofana exactly the same. Thinking about giving them minutes in the Premier League, they are not going to also play in the Conference League. We try to protect them."
Should Chelsea qualify for the knockout stage, Maresca will have the option of adding three players to his squad to help the team reach the final.
Chelsea 2024–25 UEFA Conference League Squad
Goalkeepers
- Robert Sánchez
- Filip Jørgensen
- Lucas Bergström
Defenders
- Axel Disasi
- Marc Cucurella
- Tosin Abarabioyo
- Benoît Badiashile
- Levi Colwill
- Reece James
- Malo Gusto
- Joshua Acheampong
- Renato Veiga
Midfielders
- Enzo Fernández
- Noni Madueke
- Carney Chukwuemeka
- Chistopher Nkunku
- Jadon Sancho
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
- Moisés Caicedo
- Cesare Casadei
- Tyrique George
- Kiano Dyer
Fowards
- Pedro Neto
- Mykhailo Mudryk
- João Félix
- Nicolas Jackson
- Marc Guiu
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea 2024–25 UEFA Conference League Squad .
