Chelsea's Alonso to sell or loan 16 players from 41-man squad

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso is preparing to offload 16 players as the squad has swollen to 41, with only 25 days left in the transfer window. Alonso has added players including Morgan Rogers, Marco Balestra, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and Maxence Lacroix. FIFA now bans isolating unwanted players, so Chelsea must sell or loan them, while a UEFA settlement limits registration for three more seasons. Chelsea have long stockpiled players, dating to Roman Abramovich’s era; under BlueCo ownership they have spent about £1.8 billion, with sales nearing £1 billion, making player trading central to their finances.