Report: Four stars depart from Chelsea first team pre-season

Chelsea stars Armando Broja, Billy Gilmour, Tino Anjorin and Harvey Vale sent home from the US tour

According to football.london, Chelsea have decided to cut their 29-man squad to 24 for the remaining period of their pre-season in the United States. Armando Broja, Billy Gilmour, Tino Anjorin and Harvey Vale have been sent back.

The academy trio of Gilmour, Anjorin and Vale have been sent to join the Under-23 squad in Real Salt Lake in the United States, while Broja has been sent back to London because of his injury, according to The Sun. 

All the above players are said to be loaned out for next season with Broja may or may not be leaving permanently. Thomas Tuchel explained why this had to happen while speaking on the official Chelsea website. 

“It is a very difficult decision because nobody deserves to go. But in the end we had to take the decision to keep the quality high in training so we decided for 24 players as a maximum and that’s why we went a bit smaller.”

Broja, who spent the last season on loan at Southampton has exploded onto the scene and is said to be wanted by West Ham United. Chelsea have been reluctant to sell him permanently but new reports suggest that they may not get their way. 

Gilmour too spent the last season on loan at Norwich City and did not perform up to the expected level as the Canaries were relegated. Anjorin spent the first half of last season on loan at Lokomotiv Moscow and the second half at Huddersfield. The attacking midfielder managed to score two goals in all competitions last season. 

As for Vale, he was part of Chelsea Under-23 last season and played for the senior team in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. The attacking midfielder scored nine goals and had five assists in 38 appearances in all competitions. 

It is very likely that all these players will be loaned out next season. Broja may make a permanent shift to West Ham. It is clear from their return that they are very unlikely to feature in Tuchel’s plan for next season.

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The club will be wise to loan these young players out and not sell them permanently. These players are all academy products and have huge potential in them. Selling them now for some quick profit could come back to haunt Chelsea later. It remains to be seen where they all play next season.