The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Chelsea’s handling of Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi who are training separately from the first team squad and are believed to no longer have a future at the club.
Manager Enzo Maresca played down Chelsea’s treatment of Raheem Sterling who has been on loan at Arsenal and Axel Disasi saying his dad had a much tougher life as a fisherman.
Both men will continue to play away from the first squad having failed to complete moves away from Chelsea this summer.
The PFA reached out to Chelsea as they did with other clubs with similar issues to ascertain if they are still being properly taken care of. Albeit, Chelsea ensure the duo are taken care of by giving them training sessions and granting them access to facilities at the training ground although at a different site.
When asked about his view on the impact of this situation on the mental health of the duo and how hard life is for them Maresca replied, “My father is 75years old and for 50 years he has been a fisherman, working from 2 o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock in the morning. This is hard in life, not a player, the way they work.”
“I’ve been in Sterling and Disasi’s situation as a player. For sure, I know it’s not the best feeling. You want to train and play games.
“The situation is like this for different reasons. I know the club is giving them the opportunity to work in the right way,” he added.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in an interview with Sky Sports highlighted the difficulty of the situation, questioning if Sterling wants to be in that situation. He went on to state that the manager has to think about his team, and the players he is going to use. He also highlighted that the rules the club has to provide for every player that they train in a group setting.
He expressed his sympathy for Sterling saying, “It’s a pity to not see Sterling play week in, week out”. He then went on to disclose that it wasn’t a good situation both for the players and the club.
