Chelsea have a new Bomb Squad - but don't call it that

Updated: 19 Aug 2026 21:13 BST | 4 min read

Xabi Alonso, Liam Delap, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

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Chelsea have once again separated their unwanted players from the main bulk of the team in training - but do not call it a Bomb Squad!

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It's Groundhog Day at Cobham - or is it? Just like in previous years, Chelsea are stuck with a horrendously bloated squad as the deadline approaches, and they are once again putting pressure on their unwanted flops to leave before the window shuts.

As Sky Sports reports, Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo are among the players who are not taking part in training with Xabi Alonso's main stars as Chelsea look to push them out.

Compared

Nicolas Jackson

F (C)

Chelsea

Nicolas Jackson

F (C)

Chelsea

VS

Liam Delap

F (C), AM (R)

Chelsea

Liam Delap

F (C), AM (R)

Chelsea

€35.7M	ETV	€33.6M
€32.1M - €39.3M	ETV Range	€30.3M - €37M
25 years old (20 Jun, 2001)	Age	23 years old (08 Feb, 2003)
Senegal	Nationality	England

It may seem like the infamous Bomb Squad of previous years - and, let's face it, it effectively is - but it's somewhat different this time around. While flop signings like Raheem Sterling were previously forced to use different facilities and train at different times, sometimes in the evening, Chelsea's current outcasts don't have it quite as bad.

Chelsea have been able to use their huge squad to basically organise two simultaneous training sessions with two different groups of players. They train at the same time and use the same facilities, but it's pretty clear that they are not actually equal.

FIFA has outlawed Bomb Squads

The size of Chelsea's roster is actually coming in handy in this regard because it allows them to pretend as though their Bomb Squad isn't actually a Bomb Squad. As the report points out, the Blues are "carefully managing the situation."

Why? Because FIFA and FIFPro announced in June that, starting this summer, clubs would no longer be able to isolate players and prevent them from taking part in regular training. Breaching the new rules gives players the ability to unilaterally terminate their contracts.

It is part of a wider and still ongoing fight for more player agency and greater awareness of player welfare. Just a few days before this landmark agreement between the governing body and the players' union was reached, FIFA announced that it had settled its related legal battle with Lassana Diarra.

The former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder sued the international organisation for damages after it suspended and fined him in 2014 amid a dispute with his then-club Lokomotiv Moscow. Diarra fell out with his manager and refused to train after the club had asked him to take a pay cut.

He was sacked and, despite his protests, FIFA ruled in favour of the club. A subsequent move to Charleroi collapsed because the Belgian side feared facing liability for any compensation sought by Lokomotiv.

Diarra took the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union with the argument that FIFA's transfer regulations restrict freedom of movement and breach labour laws. The CJEU agreed in 2024, forcing FIFA to hastily amend some of its rules.

However, the following year, Lucas Ribeiro was able to terminate his contract with Mamelodi Sundowns with cause after successfully using the precedent set by the Diarra ruling to claim that the South African side were impeding his career.

Sundowns had rejected an offer from Qatar SC, which Ribeiro considered to have been above his market value, prompting his strong response. After taking the matter to the FIFA Tribunal and ripping up his contract, he signed for Cultural Leonesa in Spain.

The fear that such situations could become the norm informed FIFA's decision to outlaw Bomb Squads because it could quite easily be argued that unilaterally preventing players from training properly is a breach of labour laws.