Conor Gallagher and three other stars exiled from Chelsea starting XI, but £220m pair axed

Chelsea team meetings are starting to look more like a summer music festival.

Boss Enzo Maresca It is the superstar DJ who is tasked with curating the song list while the 41 attendees, or in this case, players, rush onto the stage vying for his attention.

Or rather, 42 players at once. João Félix confirms his imminent arrival of Atletico Madrid.

But only a select few are offered access to Maresca's after-party, which, in football terms, is a place in his match-day squad.

The festival attracts more people but with each new arrival Maresca faces another dilemma at a time when preparation for the match should be the focus.

There are some familiar faces who want an invitation, but there isn't enough room to accommodate everyone. There are some who changed their plans because they were recently promised a backstage pass, but were turned away without a reasonable explanation.

The Italian wants to focus on football but the issues of By Raheem Sterling Journalists are complaining that Sterling is not on the squad list for Sunday's game. And it's not just Sterling.

And he shows no signs of slowing down. When it comes to Chelsea's transfer activity, one in and one out, but what they really need to do is get rid of three or four players, either through sales or loans.

ChelseaThe 's squad is packed with talent, the problem is that there is too much of it. Add to that the strategy of randomly selecting coaches and, in Maresca's case, a new playing system in which some players will inevitably not fit in.

A statistic revealed on Tuesday showed that the combined years of players' contracts remaining at Premier League clubs saw Chelsea come out on top with a staggering 191 years.

To put that into context, Tottenham came second with 97. Perhaps Chelsea's plan to offer their stars eight- or nine-year contracts could backfire.

8

While Chelsea have a wealth of players in their well-rounded squad, the question remains who makes Maresca's best XI from the players currently at his disposal.

Former Rangers and Scotland striker McCoist Ally He was given the unenviable task of picking his best Chelsea XI and he certainly threw up a few surprises, including four players who are currently surplus to requirements at the club.

“I'm going to go with Kepa in goal,” McCoist told talkSPORT. “I'm going to play three players behind (Wesley) Fofana, (Levi) Colwill and (Marc) Cucurella.

“Reece James on the right wing, (Ben) Chilwell on the left wing and I'm playing with two in the holding role (Conor) Gallagher while he's still there and (Romeo) Lavia

“I’m playing (Cole) Palmer on the left, controversially, I’m playing (Romelu) Lukaku through the middle and at the moment it’s a toss-up between Pedro Neto and Raheem Sterling.”

8

8

8

McCoist admits French defender Malo Gusto was unlucky not to be in his XI, but says he would have included him had he opted for a back four.

Notable exclusions include £222m-rated midfield talents Felipe Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, neither of whom have excelled at Stamford Bridge despite arriving with huge reputations.

Lavia played only his second game with the club in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Manchester City and that was enough for McCoist to choose the Belgian ahead of Caicedo and Fernández.

“In one game he has shown me more than Caicedo and Fernandes,” the Scot told talkSPORT.

8

8

There is just over a week left in the transfer window and it is unlikely that Chelsea will be able to move the 15 or so players they need to make the squad look like a respectable size.

The sound of disgruntled stars grows ever louder as a player's entourage, rightly or wrongly, does its part to stir up the hornet's nest.

For Maresca, the focus must be on the task at hand and while defeat to City would have been accepted as a strong possibility, victory against Wolves on Sunday is already imperative.

8