Chelsea are reportedly getting ready to offload a number of fringe players as Enzo Maresca looks to refine his title-challenging squad.

Since the Italian manager joined the Blues in the summer, the philosophy of Chelsea's transfer strategy has changed. Instead of bringing in young talent and loaning them out for experience, Maresca prefers a smaller squad to work with.

BBC Sport has reported that Chelsea have at least five players they will be putting in their shop window in January. The most notable star on that list is Ben Chilwell, who signed for £50million from Leicester back in 2020.

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The England international has found himself on the fringes this season, having made just one appearance in all competitions. Although he got off to a great start at Stamford Bridge when he first joined, injuries hampered his 2021/22 and 2023/24 campaigns. Maresca has made it clear Marc Cucurella, Malo Gusto and Renato Veiga are ahead of Chilwell in the left-back pecking order

"There are players that unfortunately didn't play a lot with us in all the competitions like Chilwell, like Carney [Chukwuemeka]," Maresca said.

"Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games and if they don't play games probably they are thinking of leaving."

Chukwuemeka moved to Chelsea from Aston Villa for £20m. It seems that the 21-year-old hasn't become what the Blue's board thought he could be. Despite his lack of game time, it is reported that Chelsea want every penny of Chukwuemeka's staggering £40m release clause..

Another 21-year-old, Harvey Vale, is also said to be on the list. The midfielder, who most recently played in Chelsea's 5-1 win over Shamrock Rovers, is in the final six months of his contract.

Vale spent last season on loan at Bristol Rovers and played 47 games. He has already reportedly turned down a move to Saudi Arabia club Al-Ettifaq and now has eyes on him from Europe and the Championship.

Italian midfielder Cesare Casadei is also expected to leave the club, however, he will only be allowed to leave on loan. The Italian is on the hunt for regular first-team football having spent the start of last season on loan with Maresca at Leicester City in the Championship.

And the final player on the list is, Alex Matos, who spent time on loan at Huddersfield Town.