Chelsea Split Training Groups as Delap Loses No. 9 Shirt

Chelsea striker Liam Delap has lost the club's number nine shirt to Joao Pedro and is training in a smaller group separate from Xabi Alonso's main squad. BBC Sport reports that Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk are also among the players in the second group while Chelsea attempt to reduce their squad before the transfer window closes on 1 September.

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The arrangement at Cobham involved 12 players on Wednesday, although BBC Sport said the number can change. The smaller group is training beside the main squad, and players can move between the two. Academy players are also involved, along with defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi and new signings Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.

Club sources told the BBC that the setup differs from Chelsea's approach last summer, when fringe players including Raheem Sterling and Disasi trained at different times and used separate pitches and buildings. That earlier treatment led the Professional Footballers' Association to contact the club. The BBC reported that the union has no comparable concerns about the current arrangement.

Several members of the smaller group could leave before the deadline. According to BBC Sport, Chelsea value Jackson at £65 million after his season on loan at Bayern Munich, Delap at £50 million and Disasi at £25 million. Mudryk is available for a loan move after resolving a doping case, while Adarabioyo has attracted interest from Benfica, Marseille and Premier League clubs.

Chelsea currently have 40 senior players on their books, making departures a priority in the remaining days of the window. The division into two groups gives the club a way to conduct sessions with a large roster while talks over possible moves continue, but the BBC's reporting indicates that participation in the smaller group does not make a transfer certain.

Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich Town for £30 million last summer. He scored once in 28 Premier League appearances, including 16 as a substitute, before the number nine shirt was reassigned to Joao Pedro. His place in the second group now adds another sign that his role is unsettled, although no completed transfer for him was reported.