Joao Felix and Ben Chilwell are part of a group of unwanted and fringe Chelsea players who have reported for training at Cobham this week.
Sources speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships say the number who attended the club’s training base on Monday was well into double figures.
Most of the players are those who were sent on loan during last season and are expecting to join a new club before the window shuts on September 1.
This includes Joao Felix, who Chelsea signed from Atletico Madrid for £44.5million (now $60.4m) last August but loaned to AC Milan in January.
Chilwell (Crystal Palace), Lesley Ugochukwu (Southampton), Djordje Petrovic (Strasbourg), Renato Veiga (Juventus), Armando Broja (Everton), Axel Disasi (Aston Villa) and Alfie Gilchrist (Sheffield United) are among the other returning loanees taking part. Under-21 midfielders Leo Castledine (Shrewsbury Town) and Alex Matos (Oxford United) are also involved.
Raheem Sterling, who spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Arsenal, has not yet returned but that was expected.
Monday involved taking the standard medical tests and physical examinations that always take place on the first day of pre-season to check what condition players are in. The first full session took place on Tuesday and was overseen by loan technical coach Ed Brand, with all the first-team coaching staff away at the Club World Cup in the United States.
There is also a plan for a behind-closed-doors friendly for the players who have returned to training.
Chelsea hope to raise significant revenue by selling all these players and there is significant interest from a number of clubs in most of them.
The bulk of Chelsea’s first-team squad who are a part of their 2025-26 plans have been in the U.S., where the club have reached the tournament’s final after beating Brazilian side Fluminense 2-0 on Tuesday.
Additional reporting: Liam Twomey
(Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)