Delap loses number nine shirt & trains away from first team

Chelsea striker Liam Delap has lost the number nine shirt at the club and is one of several players now training separately to the main squad.

A number of players who could move before the transfer window closes on 1 September - including fellow forward Nicolas Jackson and winger Mykhailo Mudryk - are in a second training group at Cobham.

But club sources insist it is nothing like the "bomb squad" approach taken last season when several players were frozen out.

Fringe players such as Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi trained at different times last summer, on different pitches and in separate buildings.

Their treatment prompted the Professional Footballers' Association to contact Chelsea - but it is understood the players' union has no such concerns with the current approach.

The players in the smaller group are training adjacent to Xabi Alonso's main squad and joined by defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Disasi, but also new signings Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.

There were 12 players in the smaller group on Wednesday, although that number fluctuates. Academy players are also involved, and movement between the two groups remains possible.

Chelsea are seeking £65m for Senegal striker Jackson - who spent last season on loan at Bayern Munich - and £50m for Delap, while French defender Disasi has an asking price of £25m.

Ukraine international Mudryk, 25, has not played a competitive match since November 2024, although he is now free to play after resolving a doping case and is available on loan. Tosin, 28, is attracting interest from Benfica, Marseille and a number of Premier League clubs.

The Blues are trying to reduce the size of their squad before the end of the summer transfer window, with 40 senior players on their books.

Englishman Delap joined the club in a £30m move from Ipswich Town last summer but only scored one Premier League goal in 28 Premier League appearances, 16 of which were as a substitute.

He was awarded the number nine shirt, but that has now gone to fellow forward Joao Pedro.