There were questions over how Enzo Maresca - still in the infancy of his managerial career - would handle the step up to a Chelsea side overflowing with players. Well, now we know.
Maresca revealed that he has cast more than 20 players aside to the 'bomb squad', where players are forced train away from their more favoured team-mates in a purgatorial wait for a transfer.
Some 13 of the group are being trained by former club goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, while their newest recruit Raheem Sterling has been handed a few days to digest being told he has no future at the club and should look for a move. Oh, and his shirt No 7 is being taken, too.
It is a marked fall from grace for a player who won almost everything there was to win with Manchester City just a few short years ago, but he is far from the only big name consigned to the Cobham hinterland.
Here Mail Sport takes a look at the players in Maresca's new bomb squad, what the club could hope to recoup financially, and whether a move is even realistic.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is currently working with a group of 24 players in his squad
The 'bomb squad', overseen by Carlo Cudicini, use the development squad's facilities
Raheem Sterling, 29, joined in 2022 for £50m
Market value: £30m
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Brought in as inarguably one of the premier wide forwards in the Premier League, and now relegated to the bomb squad with just 19 goals from 81 games to his name, all after a £50million fee and wages north of £300,000-per-week.
Where does Sterling go from here? Well, with English players at a premium due to registration reasons, you wouldn't have thought there would be a shortage of options for a man of his evident talents.
At 29 he is still in his prime, and can expect a long list of suitors both home and further afield. A move to Arsenal could prove a tantalising prospect, though he would have to reduce his demands.
He has an existing relationship with Mikel Arteta, and the Gunners need a second option at right wing to cover for Bukayo Saka. With Aaron Ramsdale and Eddie Nketiah linked with moves after Emile Smith Rowe, there is a shortage of home-trained players that could prove pivotal.
Aston Villa have also emerged as a contender to sign the England winger after missing out on Joao Felix, the latest major arrival at Stamford Bridge this summer.
Sterling will likely not struggle to find a move, and should end up at a side competing in at least the Europa League, if however he can lower his wage demands to fit the bill.
He is valued at £30m by transfermarkt, though a fee of around £40m would still feel a fair deal.
Raheem Sterling is among the Chelsea players that aren't allowed to train with the squad
Sterling was given permission to miss training and was left out of the squad against Man City
Ben Chilwell, 27, joined in 2020 for £50m
Market value: £24m
The left back is a classic case of a player who has brilliant potential and is an asset to the team on his day, just his 'day' is coming fewer and farther between as the injury issues continue to plague his career.
Left-back Ben Chilwell, who joined for £50million in 2020, has also been banished
His exit was hinted at earlier in the summer when Maresca admitted that he has struggled to find a place for the England international in his tactical plans, and is another that should not struggle for a move this summer.
However it remains to be seen whether he can still find a club at the top end of the table. Due to long injury lay-offs there have been inconsistencies to his game, and being forced out the squad is never likely to increase the demand for a player.
Vice-captain Chilwell missed a total of 35 games for club and country last term, and as such though he is valued at around £24m, the mid-table clubs for whom he would prove a star may not be willing to pay so much for someone that might miss half the campaign.
Kepa Arrizabalaga, 29, joined in 2018 for £72m
Market value: £10m
The Spanish goalkeeper has had a very odd career trajectory. Nobody can really be blamed for their fee, but the record sum splash for a goalkeeper has meant he has always been judged against the Thibaut Courtois, Edersons and Alissons of the world, with whom he ultimately can't really compete.
Kepa Arrizabalaga was on loan at a Champions League winning Real Madrid last year, and while he openly pleaded to be allowed to stay, no bid was incoming, and back at Chelsea he finds himself as one of SIX goalkeepers in the senior squad.
He has one year left on his contract, which could prove an issue when it comes to persuading clubs to offer permanent transfers, as many would surely prefer to take him on loan for a season and snap him up once his deal expires.
Still only 29, though, he has at least five or six years at the top level, though there is precious little milling around in the shape of reported interest in the goalkeeper's services.
Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Chelsea for a world-record fee in 2018 but could leave for just £10m
Romelu Lukaku, 31, joined in 2021 for £98m
Market value: £25.5m
There are some players who you can't really understand how they ended up in the bomb squad - Sterling a prime example - but for Romelu Lukaku, he hasn't exactly endeared himself to the chiefs at Chelsea over the years.
Within months of first signing he was already pining for a return to Serie A in a now notorious interview, and has since been on the books at first Inter and latterly Roma. A move back to Italy has been on the cards throughout the summer, providing the right fee is agreed.
Chelsea will do well to recoup a third of the £98m they spent to bring the Belgian record goal scorer to west London, and it is a sign of just how far he has fallen that his current market value is only about £25.5m as per Transfermarkt.
With just 15 goals in 59 games - those strikes coming at a princely £6.3m - Lukaku's Chelsea career would have been forgettable were it not the fee paid for his services. As it stands, it will be regarded as one of the worst deals in Premier League history.
A move to Napoli does however appear to be close with chiefs meeting in London earlier on Thursday according to reports, with a reunion with Antonio Conte on the cards.
Romelu Lukaku, who has been linked with Napoli, could be another player set to leave the club this summer
Trevoh Chalobah, 25, academy graduate
Market value: £11m
Under Thomas Tuchel, the academy graduate was a fairly regular part of the side at a time before Boehly and Co began the influx of centre back after centre back.
Chalobah has 80 first team appearances to his name, but is set to become the latest victim of the exodus of any academy product due to the fact that the proceeds of any sale represent pure - and much-needed - profit in the books.
Chalobah, though, is not short of suitors which is fortunate, and has been linked with numerous Premier League destinations over the summer including Crystal Palace, Fulham and Newcastle.
A good option at a mid-table club pushing the top six, Chalobah should fit in at the vast majority of clubs in the league and will most likely do well wherever he should end up. Transfermarkt's £11m valuation feels low, if anything.
Trevoh Chalobah has been prevented from using senior facilities this summer
Deivid Washington, 19, joined in 2023 for £17m
Market value: £7.6m
Poor lad. The teenager from Brazil must be wondering what it is he is supposed to have done wrong to incur the wrath of his manager and end up in the bomb squad.
Deivid Washington arrived last summer but has made just three appearances for the club, including just 11 Premier League minutes, and now finds himself at the end of his Chelsea career. Good thing he didn't sign a contract keeping him on the books until, 2030...
It's hard to know what the next step will be for Washington because nobody has really had a chance to actually see what he can do. His stock is surely still high back home in Brazil, but the player may want to stay in Europe so soon after arriving from Santos.
Transfermarkt have his value at around £7.5m, though even at that price most clubs may have reservations over spending as much on someone who has only played 19 senior games.
Deivid Washington has made just three appearances since signing for the club last summer
Angelo, 19, joined in 2023 for £13m
Market value: £12.7m
If Deivid Washington is surprised, then Angelo is in trouble, because the forward has never even been able to play a match for Chelsea following his move from Santos.
He did however make 21 league appearances on loan at sister club Strasbourg last term, so has some form of European experience, but he didn't exactly pull up any trees over in France.
No goals, though, which will be a big concern to any clubs willing to take the risk on a teenager with little minutes under his belt and no end product to show for his efforts so far in his fledgling career, but now he is set to be cut loose.
Angelo is yet to make an appearance for Chelsea and was loaned to sister side Strasbourg last term
David Datro Fofana, 21, joined in 2021 for £8m
Market value: £10.2m
The Cote d'Ivoire forward does at least have games at the top level under his belt, after spending the season on loan at Union Berlin and Burnley last term and notching five goals in 30 games.
It's not exactly awe-inspiring, but it is something for potential clubs to sink their teeth into and shows that there is at least some goal scoring nous to the player.
Fofana only scored four at Burnley - though admittedly a desperately poor Burnley side at that - but has at least been the reported subject of interest from newly-promoted Leicester, who are in the hunt for forward reinforcements.
The foxes will however reportedly face competition from Villarreal and Stuttgart for his services, so there is a market interest in Fofana this summer.
His market value has actually gone up since Chelsea signed him, interestingly, and at £10.2m according to transfermarkt, Fofana could prove a bargain.
David Datro Fofana scored four times on loan at Burnley and may have Premier League interest
Lucas Bergstrom, 21, joined the academy in 2019
Market Value: £595k
There aren't many clubs with fewer available pathways for goalkeepers right now than Chelsea, and Lucas Bergstrom looks set to be on the wrong end of the glut of shot-stoppers at Cobham right now.
The Finnish 'keeper was brought to the academy in 2019 from Turun Palloseura and is yet to make his first appearance for the Blues.
The 21-year-old has spent a couple of seasons out on loan, with Peterborough from July 2022 to January 2023, and then with Brommapojkarna between February and June this year.
Bergstrom signed a new contract until 2025 before joining the Swedish side, so he looks to be another set for an initial loan until his contract runs up before a permanent move becomes more realistic next summer.
Goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom could have another loan move away from the club this season
Armando Broja, 22, joined the academy in 2009
Market value: £18.6m
Albania international striker Armando Broja is already on the verge of a departure from Chelsea, with a loan to Ipswich plus £30m fee conditional on Premier League survival in place.
He has spent the best part of 15 years on the books at the Blues, with spells on loan at Fulham, Southampton and Vitesse interspersed.
With 23 goals and 118 senior games under his belt, Broja is better placed than some of his bomb squad team-mates when it comes to attracting a move this summer, but is still far from an established top-level marksman.
At Ipswich he will join a young attack alongside fellow new arrival Liam Delap, while the fee he could earn his side next summer should the Tractor Boys stay up will be much-needed to clear some of the debts should the spending frenzy continue.
Armando Broja is close to joining Ipswich on loan with an obligation to buy if they survive
Tino Anjorin, 22, joined the academy in 2008
Market value: £595k
Attacking midfielder Anjorin has been at the club for 16 years, and has only made five appearances for the senior side to date.
A half a season on loan in Russia with Lokomotiv Moscow, two spells at Huddersfield and a spell with Portsmouth add up to 62 senior appearances, and at 22 Anjorin is due a spell with regular first team minutes, and that's not something he'll find readily available at Stamford Bridge.
Portsmouth have been linked with a move, and a £595,000 transfer value should prove little obstacle to a transfer to Fratton Park, or further afield.
Alex Matos, 19, joined the academy in 2023
Market value: £1m
The England Under-20 international has only recently arrived in west London, having joined from Norwich, but appears at the end of the road already.
Matos managed 20 appearances on loan at Huddersfield last season, which saw his market value increase to around £1m, and reports have already linked him with a move to Lens in France.
Harvey Vale, 20, joined the academy in 2016
Market value: £1.3m
Arriving from rivals Fulham eight years ago, Harvey Vale has managed a creditable five games for the senior side, and curiously managed to pick up a booking in his 120-odd minutes.
A season on loan with Bristol Rovers last term brought 47 appearances, three goals and six assists for the attacking midfielder, which would explain reported interest in a loan move from Championship sides.
What about the rest?
Maresca revealed that there were '15 or 20' players that weren't training with the main group, with that leaving at most seven players unaccounted for with the bomb squad numbering just 13.
Conor Gallagher's official departure to Atletico Madrid removes the midfielder from the group of players whose futures are no longer clear, with Bashir Humphreys one of a number to have gone out on loan.
Andrey Santos is likewise with Strasbourg, while Alfie Gilchrist, Lesley Ugochukwu, Gabriel Slonina, Caleb Wiley, Aaron Anselmino and Eddie Beach will also spend the season elsewhere. Whether or not they will have a place with the main side next term, though, remains to be seen.
It is fair to assume the matchday squad against Man City have not been axed, which leaves Djordje Petrovic, Marcus Bettinelli, Reece James, Axel Disasi, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Omari Kellyman.
Cesare Casadei is another highly rated young talent who appears to have an uncertain future
Carney Chukwuemeka could be another player to have their Chelsea career come to an end
Club captain James has picked up another injury over the summer, so nothing can be read into his omission, while Petrovic and Bettinelli may perhaps be vying for the same third-choice goalkeeper position.
Disasi was solid last term, and again may just be a victim of too many players, not enough spaces on the list. Kellyman is only recently through the door and will surely be spending time with the academy, while Casadei spent time under Maresca on loan last term - for the Italian to then cast him aside now would be interesting in the extreme.
Chukwuemeka meanwhile, was only signed from Aston Villa two years ago for £20m after seeing off competition from Borussia Dortmund, but after failing to assert himself as a regular could be set to leave.
The midfielder's market value is set at around £12.7m on transfermarkt, with Fabrizio Romano reporting earlier this week that his future is unclear, so the former Villa star could be another that departs to raise funds this summer.
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