Raheem Sterling wants clarity on his Chelsea future after he was left out of the Blues' squad to face Manchester City.
Sterling was a surprise omission from Enzo Maresca's matchday squad for their opening Premier League fixture of the 2024-25 campaign.
The 29-year-old, who joined Chelsea from City in 2022, had featured in all of the Blues' pre-season matches.
However, after Sterling was left out of Sunday's clash against his former club, the winger's camp told Mail Sport that they were chasing clarity from the club.
"Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea for the next three years," a statement read.
"He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
"He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
"As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea in relation to Raheem's future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
"Until then, we will continue to support Raheem's desire to start the new season positively."
Sterling was Chelsea's third-highest scorer in all competitions last season, netting 10 times in 43 games, slightly overperforming his 9.1 expected goals (xG), albeit he only converted four of 17 big chances, defined by Opta as an opportunity from which a player would reasonably be anticipated to score.
Maresca, meanwhile, brushed off the selection choice.
"It's a technical decision, nothing else to say," he told the media. "Managers are paid to make decisions and sometimes players don't like it."
Chelsea have once again been busy in the transfer market, signing nine players, with winger Pedro Neto arriving in a move worth over £50million from Wolves last week.
The Blues have a bloated squad, with coach Maresca having conceded they must focus on shipping players out, with England left-back Ben Chilwell – who was also left out of the squad on Sunday – having been told he can leave.
Conor Gallagher was also absent, as he remains in limbo over a possible move to Atletico Madrid. Forwards Armando Broja and Romelu Lukaku were among the other big names left out by Maresca, with both players expected to depart.
Chelsea's starting XI against City had an average age of just 23 years and 180 days, which is the second-youngest by any Premier League team for their opening match of a season.
Verona 3-0 Napoli: Conte oversees humiliating loss on Partenopei bow
Napoli's Serie A season began in calamitous fashion on Sunday as they were thrashed 3-0 by Verona, also losing star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to injury.
Antonio Conte, overseeing his first league game in charge of the 2023 Scudetto winners, was forced to withdraw Kvaratskhelia just before half-time after the Georgian collided with Pawel Dawidowicz.
Napoli's problems mounted after the break when Dailon Livramento got in front of their defence to slot home from close range and give the hosts the lead.
The nightmare continued for Napoli after 75 minutes as substitute Daniel Mosquera received a throughball and calmly slotted his finish past Alex Meret.
With Napoli throwing men forward late on, Verona added some gloss to the scoreline as Mosquera claimed his brace, tapping home a cutback from Darko Lazovic for his brace.
Data Debrief: Conte's perfect record ends
After a dismal 2023-24 season that saw Napoli, as defending champions, go through three head coaches and finish 10th in Serie A, hopes were high that Conte's arrival would herald an instant upturn.
However, the Partenopei were stunned in his first league game at the helm, as he started a season as a Serie A manager with a defeat for the very first time.
He had previously registered five wins and one draw on matchday one in the competition.
Bolton draw proves Wrexham competitive in League One, says Parkinson
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson says his side's goalless draw away at Bolton Wanderers proves they can compete in League One.
Bolton finished third in the league last season behind Portsmouth and Derby County before losing out in the play-off semi-finals against eventual promotion winners Oxford United.
The Welsh side, meanwhile, were promoted from the fourth tier and opened their League One campaign with a 3-2 victory over Wycombe Wanderers last time out.
Parkinson's side and Ian Evatt's hosts could not be separated on Sunday, however, as the visiting manager suggested the result shows Wrexham are equal to the level of the third-tier competition.
"It was a good test and I was interested to see how we fared," said Parkinson.
"They started so quickly and we didn't quite react to that. But we grew into the game. We showed at times we have got quality. We had moments, so did they.
"It was important for us as well to show we can compete at this level, at the top end of the division. I felt we did that.
"At times in the second period, we gained some control with the ball and looked like we could go on and win it. But we had to rely on Arthur [Okonkwo] for one particular outstanding save."
Parkinson believes his faith in ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Okonkwo, who denied the impressive Dion Charles, has paid off after his successful attempts to sign him.
"I said to the owners in the summer Arthur was a key signing," Parkinson added. "He is someone who can grow with the club.
"He's not just a good keeper, he is a good character as well. Everyone saw his quality. He was immaculate."
Over 24 League One contests on home soil last season, Bolton had 15 wins, five draws, and four losses, and Evatt felt the home side should have continued that impressive record on Sunday.
Bolton were also denied a stoppage-time penalty for a shirt pull on skipper Ricardo Santos, much to the dismay of Evatt.
"I thought we deserved to win it," Evatt said. "We were the team probing and asking questions for large spells. We should have and probably could have gone ahead and we had enough chances to win it.
"For a team like them that ask you lots of questions and score a lot of goals, they didn't create a great deal. They really celebrated the draw so that shows where we are at."
Maresca claims Chelsea matched Man City despite comfortable defeat
Enzo Maresca insisted Chelsea were equal to the masterful Manchester City in the aftermath of Sunday's 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian started his Blues tenure with a loss as Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored in either half for the Premier League champions in their 2024-25 opener.
Chelsea mustered 1.23 expected goals (xG), however, to City's 0.82 and almost drew level when Nicolas Jackson had a strike ruled out for offside on the stroke of half-time.
Jackson was again denied by Ederson after the interval, while Enzo Fernandez's cross would have found debutant Pedro Neto for a tap-in if not for Rico Lewis' late intervention.
Former Leicester City boss Maresca believes his side matched City's efforts, yet the game was decided by the quality of Pep Guardiola's team in both boxes.
"I think we competed very well for much of the game," former City development coach Maresca told Sky Sports. "We were similar if not better.
"The performance was there but we didn't take the chances. Probably the big difference was inside the box. I'm quite happy in terms of performance.
"For me, the important thing is to create chances. We didn't score but we created chances. The first goal for them was almost offside, we almost scored.
"These things change results but the performance was good overall. It was quite clear, you can see a team trying to keep the ball and dominate.
"We were against the champions. We will continue and win games. They are a master in this kind of moment.
"They are a master of keeping hold of the ball. The performance was there and that is the main thing. You can see how they managed the ball.
"In terms of chances, we had the same. Keeping the ball was more or less there. We don't like to lose. We just need to continue."
Maresca's maiden match in charge at Stamford Bridge was clouded by his decision to leave out Raheem Sterling, whose representatives then issued a statement demanding "clarity" over the forward's future.
Sterling had featured on the opening matchday of the last 11 Premier League seasons for Liverpool, City and Chelsea, but was omitted from the squad along with Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Conor Gallagher.
Maresca insisted the decision was based off "technical" aspects before the game, and reiterated that sentiment following the disappointing defeat.
"To be honest, I didn't see the statement," Maresca said. "I have nothing to say. It was a tactical decision, no more than that.
"In the next day, we will clarify in case we need to. I have been clear, it's a tactical decision. I didn't see it."
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