What Maresca told Sterling and midfielder about uncertain Chelsea futures

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca left five senior players out of his starting eleven. The quintet also failed to be named on the Blues substitute's bench. But how did the former Leicester City boss confirm the decision on their respective futures to Raheem Sterling and another midfield outcast? Will Sterling now leave Stamford Bridge, with Serie A and Saudi interest? And what is happening with Carney Chukwuemeka?

Is Carney Chukwuemeka set to depart?

When Chukwuemeka arrived from Aston Villa a while back, he was hailed as a very talented up-and-coming starlet. But then, so were the majority of the other young signings coming through Cobham's doors. Only a few, like Cole Palmer, seem to have the capacity to fuel natural expectations at the Bridge.

Nevertheless, Maresca has seemingly deemed Chukwuemeka surplus to requirements for now, considering the latter wasn't in Chelsea's matchday squad to face Manchester City. And the comments given by the Italian on the Englishman are not hopeful for his CFC career.

Maresca did, however, reveal why Chukwuemeka was omitted from proceedings at the weekend versus Pep Guardiola's team. Essentially, unnamed "technical" reasons were cited as to why the 20-year-old was absent. This basically means the player's skill set was inappropriate or insufficient to handle Man City. This quote is worrying for the midfielder:

"The problem is, because of some injuries in the past, I think the best for him [Chukwuemeka] is to play 30 or 35 games in a row, to show himself that he is fit and how good he is because he is very good. With us, is he going to play 35 games? I'm not sure."

- Enzo Maresca

Along with Sterling and Chukwuemeka, three other professionals were unneeded judging by Maresca's selections. They are Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Armando Broja. The Pride of London can quite easily see the final two leaving the Fulham Road outfit very soon. Chilwell will undoubtedly wish to win his head coach around by January.

Raheem Sterling may not play for Chelsea again

Raheem Sterling in absolute limbo because he is out of favour with boss Enzo Maresca and has extortionate wages. The ex-Liverpool star unwisely instructed his amateurish entourage to publish a weak and entitled-appearing response to being dropped.

Although I have been a critic of Sterling in the past, his more-than-capable dribbling probably could have helped the Blues during the City clash. Though I am pretty unsurprised that he was left out by Maresca.

According to Sport Bible, among other outlets, a "Chelsea source" divulged how Maresca broached the awkward matter at hand with Sterling. Chukwuemeka received the same purported information. Fundamentally, both were told they would not be afforded the same minutes this season:

"According to the Daily Mail, it has emerged that Maresca told Sterling he had would have 'limited' opportunities for game time this campaign in comparison to last season."