Chelsea pressured to vary Conference League squad after ‘error’ sees star snubbed
Chelsea were forced to alter their UEFA Conference League squad against Servette in a last-minute shuffle.
The Blues had to slot Tosin Adarabioyo into their squad after a paperwork blunder initially left 26-year-old defender out. Having hopped over from Fulham on a freebie this summer, Adarabioyo found himself warming the bench during Chelsea’s season opener against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
With Chelsea set to face off in their UEFA Conference League qualifier this Thursday night, an update was needed sharpish on the 21-man A List of established players come Wednesday. The BBC got the nod from UEFA that a clerical mistake was behind Adarabioyo’s absence.
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While Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana and Ben Chilwell are still absent and transfer speculation rife, Adarabioyo has snagged his place. He is riding high on a four-year deal with the Blues, who reckon he’ll be bossing it as one of their main men.
Chelsea co-sporting directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, commented on his arrival, saying: “We are delighted to bring Tosin to Chelsea. Throughout his career, he has showcased his maturity and defensive qualities and has gained a wealth of experience in the Premier League in recent seasons,” reports the Mirror.
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![Tosin Adarabioyo](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article33158118.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_GettyImages-2155765202.jpg)
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Spotting a bright future with Chelsea, they added: “He is ready to make the step up to Chelsea and work alongside the talented players in our squad. We look forward to Tosin joining up with us for pre-season.”
Although Enzo Maresca’s charges suffered defeat at the hands of reigning champs City, the Chelsea boss remains bullish about the kind of form his men are showing. “I thought our performance was good. We don’t like to lose but I thought the performance was there,” he said.
“We competed against the best team in the world and we competed for large parts at the same level and in some moments were even better. We created chances and I think the big difference between us and them was especially in the box and the way they managed the ball in the last parts of the game but they are masters at that. Overall, I think our performance was quite good.”
Looking ahead, he added: “I think today we were better than the last game, against Inter Milan, and I think that this is the most important thing to improve game-by-game. For me, it is very clear that we are improving and the direction is the right direction.
“I said the other day that I didn’t expect the team to already be this [far] ahead so the direction is a good one and I don’t have any doubt that day by day we are getting better and we are going to have days where we win games and we will be happier.”