Disasi’s hopes over Chelsea future increase as Rosenior confirms imminent Sterling decision
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Liam Rosenior said he has already had conversations with Chelsea's two exiled players, Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling, with the former training with the first team on Tuesday.
This is not the first time Disasi has trained with the first team this season, having already done it back in November when former head coach Enzo Maresca was in charge.
At the time, however, Maresca made it clear that it was only because several players from the academy setup were invited to first-team training during an international break, and nothing more.
It remains unclear if Disasi will ever play in a senior match again for Chelsea, but it seems that Rosenior is more open to that possibility.
Axel Disasi #CFC pic.twitter.com/BsAvfeI11M
— CFC Pics (@Mohxmmad) January 20, 2026
"My decision on Axel, I had a really good meeting with him a couple of days ago," the Chelsea head coach said about Disasi's presence in the first-team training on Tuesday.
"I said to the players when I came in that it's a clean slate for everybody, so it was only right for me to chat with him.
"He's behind in terms of his fitness, his match fitness, and we'll work with him."
While Disasi has re-entered the first-team picture, at least in training, Sterling remains out of the setup.
Rosenior admitted that he is in discussions with the veteran winger over his future plans.
"We're in conversations with Raheem at the moment about different things going on in his career," he explained.
"Hopefully that will be clearer in the next couple of days."
Having not played competitively for so long, it would be unlikely for the pair to be re-integrated into the senior squad.
Ideally, Chelsea would find suitors for them both in this January transfer window.
The Athletic claims that Disasi has interest from clubs in England, Italy, and France, with at least one club keen on signing him permanently.
Sterling's situation is clearly more difficult, considering that he is reportedly on a contract worth in excess of £300,000-a-week, which runs until 2027.
The report mentions that the England international is not interested in going on another loan after spending 2024/25 with Arsenal.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.