Published on September 5, 2024 at 11:51 p.m. Clément Pédron
Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia have not been registered by Chelsea to take part in the Conference League championship phase. While no reason has been given, it appears to be a precautionary choice.
Let it be said, Chelsea are the big favourites in the Conference League, the name given to the C4. Even more so when we look at the “high calibre” teams that are accompanying them in this competition, such as Betis Seville, Fiorentina and Ghent. Even if they will have to win the matches to go all the way, the Blues have, thanks to their means and incidentally their squad, largely the capacities to win the trophy at the end of next season for this first year with this new format. In any case, the first part of the road to a potential European consecration will be without three men. Indeed, Chelsea has published the list of players registered to play the mini-league phase and three players are missing: Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia. These last three are not sanctioned by the club, they have just not been registered for prevention reasons.
A busy schedule
Like many clubs, Chelsea is embarking on a real obstacle course since the Blues must perform on four tables, national and continental, without forgetting the Club World Cup (32 clubs present, from June 15 to July 13, 2025) and the international windows. With this in mind, the absence of these three men can be understood. Cole Palmer was the star of the last season at the Blues and the latter undoubtedly prefer to see him take a breather from time to time in order to be operational for the more important matches. Wesley Fofana and Roméo Lavia have been injured a lot recently and will benefit from additional recovery time in order to perform as soon as they have the opportunity, without taking any risks. However, as the newspaper L’Équipe indicates, Enzo Maresca, the coach of the London club, will have the luxury of incorporating them for the Conference League knockout phase later.
