“Absolute shambles” describes Chelsea’s embarrassing The Blues’ pre-season snub of Trevoh Chalobah sums up everything that is wrong with them. Ownership by Todd Boehly
The homegrown defender looks set to depart Stamford Bridge despite starring in the second half of last season
Back in August 2021, Thomas Tuchel sprinkled a major surprise into his Chelsea line up for the Blues’ Premier League opener against Crystal Palace. Sitting at the heart of his back three was not Thiago Silva, nor was it Kurt Zouma, who both had to settle for a place on the bench.
Instead, Trevoh Chalobah, flanked on either side by Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, was given the nod. His selection represented the realisation of a lifelong dream. Moving to London from Sierra Leone as a toddler, Chalobah was picked up by Chelsea before his ninth birthday and progressed through the youth ranks, forming part of the young Blues sides that won the 2015-16 UEFA Youth League and FA Youth Cup on two occasions.
How much this debut meant to the centre back became abundantly clear in the second half against the Eagles. Latching onto a crossfield pass from Mateo Kovacic 25 yards out, Chalobah inched forward gingerly before unleashing a rasping drive into the far corner. Vicente Guaita got a hand to it, but it wasn’t enough, as the ball nestled into the back of the net.
The enormity of this storybook moment proved too much for Chalobah. After raising his hands to thank the heavens, he covered his face to hide the tears beginning to form and disappeared into Cesar Azpilicueta’s embrace, before being ecstatically mobbed by his team-mates.
“I couldn’t believe it when the ball went in. I didn’t know what to do and I dropped to my knees,” he told the BBC after the game. “I was over the moon. I didn’t know the ball went in until the crowd cheered. It’s a surreal moment.”
Debuts simply do not get better than that, and it should have been the start of Chalobah forging his legend at Stamford Bridge. However, the Cobham graduate’s Blues career now looks set to end in the most depressing way imaginable.
On Monday, it emerged that Chalobah had been omitted from Chelsea’s travelling squad for their pre-season tour of the United States. This was not a fitness issue either. Reports confirmed that Chalobah had been told to stay at home as other centre-backs are ahead of him in the pecking order.
Manager Enzo Maresca was quizzed on this snub during his first press conference since taking over in west London and did his best to explain. “The Trevoh situation for me is quite clear, we have Axel [Disasi] there, we have Tosin [Adarabioyo] there, we have Wes [Fofana] who in these two weeks has worked very good and is finally back, we have some very young profiles like Josh Acheampong who is doing fantastic. It’s a sad decision but we have to take the decision,” he said.
Chalobah has interpreted his omission as proof that the club are trying to force him out. This will be difficult to take, considering how strongly he finished the 2023-24 season.
Scintillating end to the campaign
After missing a sizeable chunk of the season through injury, Chalobah’s return in the middle of February coincided with Chelsea’s best run of results under Mauricio Pochettino. Indeed, of the 13 Premier League games he featured in last season, Chelsea only lost one. And that was the 5-0 hammering at Arsenal, during which Chalobah only appeared as a second-half substitute when the game was already over.
His standout display came against another of Chelsea’s London rivals: Tottenham. Ange Postecoglou’s side simply could not find a way through at the Bridge, with Chalobah helping to marshall inexperienced right-back Alfie Gilchrist through proceedings en route to a rare clean sheet. He netted the breakthrough goal as well, with his unstoppable header from a deep Conor Gallagher free-kick leaving Guglielmo Vicario with no chance.
Towards the end of the campaign he also showed his versatility. With Malo Gusto and Reece James both sidelined, Chalobah was forced to play right-back. He did not miss a beat in this unfamiliar role either, helping Chelsea secure victories over West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, which confirmed their return to European football.
Tosin Adarabioyo Chelsea 2024-25Getty Images
Surplus to requirements
That extended spell in the first team is likely to be Chalobah’s final act as a Chelsea player, though. Since then, the centre-back picture has changed pretty drastically, but in purely footballing terms, it’s difficult to understand why the 25-year-old is starting the campaign bottom of the pile.
As new boss Marseca alluded to in his press conference, Fofana is finally back from the serious knee injury he suffered 12 months ago, with his last appearance coming all the way back in May 2023. At this stage, the Frenchman has missed a combined 140 games due to various knocks over the past three seasons, meaning he comes into the new campaign as somewhat of an unknown quantity. Although he still may be able to rediscover the form he showed at Leicester City that made him one of the most coveted defenders in the world, it’s a big ask for his battered body.
Then there’s Tosin, a player who was dropped by mid-table Fulham at various points during his time at Craven Cottage. The shrug-of-the-shoulders reaction that most Cottagers fan had when it was reported he was leaving on a free transfer speaks volumes of how much he has to prove to be considered an elite defender.
Disasi, meanwhile, had a mixed debut season punctuated by errors. At best he is a rough diamond who is best served when playing alongside a more assured presence at the back.
However, like most personnel decisions made by Chelsea since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their takeover, Chalobah’s snub has nothing to do with how he has been performing on the pitch. Instead, the Blues’ hand has been forced by financial pressure.
We all know the story by now. Homegrown players count as ‘pure profit’ on the club’s books and Chelsea desperately need exactly that as the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) tighten around their neck, thanks solely to the ludicrous spending that began under Boehly and has continued under the reign of seemingly infallible sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.
In a different reality, Chalobah’s performances would surely make him first-choice right-centre-back heading into Marseca’s maiden season. But selling the rivals for his spot will not be anywhere near as financially lucrative.
He is far from the first Cobham alum to be discarded in the name of financial necessity, of course. If Chelsea had adopted a different transfer model, one where youth teamers stuck around, they could now be boasting the most ‘homegrown’ team in the Premier League. Instead, the squad is oversaturated with expensive – and in many cases, underperforming – imports, tied to never-ending contracts.
Neil Bath Chelsea Getty Images
No respect for Cobham
Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi, Tino Livramento, Tammy Abraham and Lewis Hall are among the former Chelsea youth-teamers who have thrived after leaving the club in recent years. Declan Rice and Michael Olise, meanwhile, are among those who also slipped through the net at a younger age.
Levi Colwill, Armando Broja, James and Gallagher remain in the first-team. However, aside from James and perhaps Colwill, would it really be a surprise to see those players sold, along with Chalobah, if the right offer comes along this summer?
While Chelsea were criticised for not providing a pathway for their young stars during Roman Abramovich’s ownership, the situation has been exacerbated since Boehly and Co took over. The sense that the ownership do not appreciate Cobham’s unique ability to produce talent was only heightened by the recent departure of Neil Bath, the club’s director of football development and operations.
For three decades, Bath – along with assistant Jim Fraser – were regarded as some of the best developers of youth talent in world football. His departure leaves Chelsea with a gaping void to fill, though the ownership’s disregard for its homemade stars gives one little confidence that the pair will be adequately replaced.
Chelsea Super League protestGetty Images
Growing disconnect
The treatment of Cobham graduates – with Chalobah just the latest example – has clearly contributed to the festering disconnect between club and fanbase that has gradually worsened over the past few years. Results on the pitch have not helped, but it would be disingenuous to put Chelsea supporters’ evident distrust of the ownership solely down to this.
Bart Barrett, a lifelong Stamford Bridge season ticket holder, told GOAL: “The Chalobah situation is an absolute shambles. He was probably our best defender in last 10-15 games last season – no coincidence our form improved massively with him in there instead of Disasi and [Benoit] Badiashile.
“It’s a joke they have signed Tosin to replace Chalobah, who is a better player and has been at Chelsea since a kid. But the only way they look at it is Tosin was free and Chalobah will go for £30m – so profit for the same squad role. It just shows a complete lack of understanding of the club. It’ll be the same with Gallagher when he is inevitably sold also.”
Antagonism between the club’s American ownership and the fans is nothing new, but the whole Chalobah situation seems to have struck a particularly sour chord. This is a player who has been nothing but professional his entire Chelsea career, using each of his loan moves to improve, waiting patiently for first-team chances and covering across multiple positions without complaint. Yet, it’s still not been enough to protect him from the owners’ remorseless scythe as they cover for their own financial mismanagement.
Bart was among the Chelsea fans who protested the proposed European Super League back in 2021 and one of the banners draped across the Stamford Bridge gates has proved to be prophetic: “The circus continues. We weren’t wrong.”
