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boss has left one of the club's most expensive signings out of his plans for the . The Blues and will fly to the United States over the coming days. They will face Los Angeles FC, Flamengo and ES Tunis in the group phase of the revamped competition.

Earlier this week, that Djordje Petrovic, , Joao Felix and Axel Disasi would be left out of the squad. All four players were loaned out during the 2024/25 campaign as Chelsea secured a top-five finish in the Premier League and won silverware in the Conference League. Now, it has emerged that another big name has also been overlooked.

Wesley Fofana has been omitted from the group despite being one of 's most expensive players. Three years ago, he joined the club from Leicester City in a deal worth around £80million.

Fofana has only made 34 competitive appearances for the Blues in that time, having suffered more than his fair share of injury setbacks. He played just 14 games in the Premier League last season, missing most of the campaign with a hamstring problem.

The Frenchman underwent surgery in April and has been left out of the Club World Cup so that he can focus on returning to full fitness, according to the . He is said to be considered a 'key defender' for next season and will be 'treated with caution'.

Even though Fofana has not been included in the squad, the report adds that he could still travel to the United States so that he can be around his team-mates in a united setting.

He is a firm favourite with the manager, who said last season that he was 'in love' with Fofana after the defender helped to keep a clean sheet in 's away win over West Ham United.

"Wes is a player that I really love," said Maresca after the full-time whistle. "I am in love with Wes. He is doing fantastic after one year injured and, for any player in the world, when you come back it is not easy. He is doing top. This is the only thing we want."

Meanwhile, new signings Liam Delap, Mamadou Sarr, Dario Essugo and Mike Penders have been named in 's squad for the Club World Cup. They will be hoping to make an immediate impact as the Blues go in search of glory in the new-look competition.

Maresca recently said that it would be the perfect opportunity to collect more silverware, telling the FIFA website: "When you are at , your goal is always to win. Our goal, each and every single game, will always be to try to win them all.

"You need to see it as a source of fantastic motivation. When we are there, that will be one of our goals, to try to win it."