Cole Palmer will not play in Europe this year either. He came close to becoming champion with England, but if Chelsea were to win the Conference League, he will not be able to boast this title. At least for now, since he was excluded from the list of those available during the midweek match. He could always be part of it starting in January, but this is an opportunity and not a certainty. With him also others like Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana.
On the other hand, when you have to play the Club World Cup in June, you need much bigger squads. And equipped, of course. In addition, the Conference is certainly not the Champions League, so you have to make choices, perhaps unpopular ones. It would be nice to know what Palmer thought when he was told the circumstance, but perhaps that would be asking too much. Instead, the new arrival – from Manchester United – Jadon Sancho, like Cesare Casadei and Chukwuemeka, who were put on the market at the end of the last window, but have not found a place to settle.
Here are Maresca’s picks for the Conference League.
Goalkeepers: Sanchez, Jorgensen, Bergstrom.
Defenders: Disasi, Cucurella, Tosin, Badiashile, James, Gusto, Veiga, Colwill, Acheampong.
Midfielders: Fernandez, Madueke, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku, Sancho, Dewsbury-Hall, Caicedo, Casadei, George, Dyer.
Attackers: Neto, Mudryk, Felix, Jackson, Guiu.