Chelsea players are reeling after manager Mauricio Pochettino's departure on Tuesday.
The Sun says 48 hours on, the players are still in shock at the decision made by management.
While both parties insist it was an amicable agreement, it still left the players blindsided. Chelsea had won five of their last six games to qualify for the Europa League.
The squad didn't learn of the split until a Whatsapp message was posted to their phones. A club source said: "The players left the ground on a high and are now on a massive low.
All the feelgood factor from the recent run of games has been wiped out in one stroke. Poch was very popular with the players."
A source close to one senior player said: It was a complete shock. They were such a tight group. Pochettino had a very difficult job. Rebuilding a squad is never easy and he did a great job."