Life harder for my dad that football outcasts says Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has played down concerns over the treatment of Chelsea’s so-called ‘bomb squad’, insisting the challenges facing Raheem Sterling (30) and Axel Disasi (27) pale in comparison to those endured by his father as a fisherman.

Speaking to reporters after BBC Sport revealed that the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) had entered discussions with Chelsea over the players’ exclusion, Maresca struck a blunt tone.

“I’ve been in Raheem’s and Axel’s situation as a player,” the Italian said. “For sure, I know it is not the best feeling. But my father is 75 years old and for 50 years he has been a fisherman, working from two in the morning until 10. That is a hard life, not the way a player works.”

Both Sterling and Disasi are training away from the first team after falling outside of Maresca’s plans. FIFA regulations prevent clubs from isolating players in ways deemed abusive, but Chelsea maintain that the duo are being given the facilities required to stay fit.

The PFA is monitoring developments, with the futures of both players uncertain. Sterling has under two years remaining on a lucrative £325,000-a-week contract, but opted against leaving London this summer despite interest from Juventus and Napoli, while Disasi, contracted until 2029, rejected late loan offers from the likes of Bournemouth, Sunderland, and West Ham.

Maresca was unmoved when asked whether the situation risked becoming mentally damaging. “If you are not in the squad, you are not in the squad. That is not about Chelsea, it is the same for any club in the world,” he said.

For all the focus on star players left in limbo, Maresca’s perspective was clear: football hardship, in his eyes, remains relative.

GFN | Finn Entwistle