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Six Chelsea players have not been given squad numbers ahead of the new season, as the club look to offload fringe members of the squad. The Blues have released their shirt numbers for the 2022-23 season, with a few names missing from the list as seen on the club's official website.
The Blues have added four players to their squad over the summer. The west London outfit have signed Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, as well as youngster Carney Chukwuemeka and goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.
Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja have both returned from successful loan spells at Premier League clubs. Brighton & Hove Albion wing-back Marc Cucurella also underwent a medical, according to The Evening Standard.
The new additions to the first-team squad mean the club will be looking to shift several high-earning players out the door. Ross Barkley, Kenedy and Michy Batshuayi have all had their squad numbers removed. This suggests they are surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.
The aforementioned players all have just one year left on their current deals. However, they did travel with Thomas Tuchel's squad on their pre-season tour of the US.
Young defender Levi Colwill, who spent an incredibly successful season on loan at Championship side Huddersfield Town, has also not been assigned a number. The Athletic have claimed that the England U21 international is set to join Brighton on a season-long loan as part of the Cucurella transfer.
Meanwhile, the immediate Chelsea futures of academy products Billy Gilmour and Ethan Ampadu look bleak as they were also left out of the squad list of numbers. The duo were also out on loan last season and appear likely to endure a similar fate for the upcoming campaign.
Cesar Azpilicueta signs contract extension at Chelsea
While the Blues may be looking to ship half a dozen players from their squad, one player who has committed his future to the club is 32-year-old Cesar Azpilicueta.
The club captain has played 476 times for the two-time European champions but was heavily linked with a move to Barcelona throughout the summer.
However, the Spanish defender has now signed a new two-year deal and told Chelsea's official website:
"I am really happy to extend my stay at Chelsea, my home. It is almost 10 years since I first arrived and joined the club so I really feel the love and I am really excited for the new project we have in our hands.
"I would like to say thank you to Mr. Todd and Mr. Behdad for giving me the opportunity to keep my journey at this amazing club and I am really looking forward to continuing our adventure. I am a really proud captain and I hope we can share many good memories together."
