Their omission means the Blues will not be able to call upon the trio for our six league phase fixtures, but they can be added to the squad for the knockout stages should we get there. For Maresca, the priority is managing their fitness in what is expected to be an especially busy campaign.

Maresca was asked about the trio being left out of the Conference League squad during an interview with club channels on Thursday morning.

‘It’s very clear,’ he said. ‘We try to protect the players.

‘Romeo last year struggled to play [due to injury]. Wes Fofana exactly the same. Thinking about giving them minutes in the Premier League, they are not going to also play in the Conference League. We try to protect them.

‘Cole is more or less is the same,’ he added of our Player of the Year.

‘He had a very busy last year, from City to here, playing many games, then he didn’t come with us on pre-season because he finished quite late [because of Euro 2024]. We are trying to protect the players and give them the right minutes at the right moment.’