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27th July 2023
11:50am BST
Mauricio Pochettino has warned his Chelsea squad that there will be no room for any trouble makers going into the new season.
Pochettino is keen to trim down the number of first-team players in his squad despite moving 12 members on already and has reiterated that he wants people who will fight for their place and don't make it "a mess".
The former Spurs and Paris Saint-Germain boss says he wants a tight-knit squads of 22 players, plus youth players, who will fight for their place and work towards a much-improved season.
"We can’t have players who won’t play, and create a mess in the squad," he said.
"Of course if a player is not happy and they believe they can’t play we will find a solution, talk with the club and fix the situation.
"We need players who are happy. Playing, or not playing. If they believe they need to be in the first XI, try to be the coach, it is better to talk now. Maybe they think: If you don’t play I don’t want to be here.
"I’d rather it was: 'If I am not playing and I am here I accept you are the coaching staff and I won’t play every game.' That is not a threat. It is about that character.
"The attitude has to be: 'I come here to help the club, and then I need to convince the coach I need to play. I am a player and let the coaching staff coach. If not, impossible. You need the right players to accept what is going on.'"
Chelsea have so far signed Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku as first-team options and are actively trying to sign Moises Caicedo but aren't willing to meet Brighton's £100m valuation.
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