When Antonio Conte led Chelsea to their fifth Premier League title in 2016/17 (the club’s sixth Championship), it looked like the Blues would continue to challenge for the next decade. Enzo Maresca’s side finished fourth in 2024/25 and showed signs that the seeds are there for something exciting and more solid.
Chelsea have never really been solid in a traditional managerial sense. Coaches have come and gone, but trophies were still won. Maresca added to that haul when the Stamford Bridge outfit claimed the last European trophy of the season after beating Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final. This meant that the Blues now have a clean sweep of all three of UEFA’s European club competitions.
Maresca has shown a steely side at the business end of the Premier League when Champions League qualification was in peril. After piling up the goals and almost catching eventual champions Liverpool just before the busy period at Christmas, the Blues’ form collapsed.
Cole Palmer’s influence and goals dried up and the connection between the team and crowd became nervy. The Premier League betting markets don’t forget such moments. The last time Chelsea were top for any period was back in 2021
This is where the Italian earned his corn by stabilising the team, recreating a tight unit that won five of the last six fixtures by beating Liverpool, Fulham, Everton and fellow Champions League hopefuls Nottingham Forest. That last match, played at the City Ground, showed that Chelsea were ready for a scrap.
There is power to add to a squad that was inflated by another £230 million spending spree before the start of the last campaign. With more than 50 players at his disposal, Maresca had to knit together different teams for the EPL and the Conference League and he managed it pretty well barring that nightmare run of just two wins in ten up until the end of February.
One absolute necessity for any kind of EPL challenge is to find a striker who can score 20 goals. The team’s return of 64 goals was the lowest in the top five. Nicolas Jackson’s tally of 10 was nowhere near enough and became a real issue when Palmer went months without scoring. The 30 million purchase of Ipswich’s Liam Delap is a promising development in that regard. Delap’s profile is one of go-getter and goalscorer, having notched a dozen EPL goals for a relegated Ipswich.
Those who are on the way out include veteran goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli who moves to Manchester City after playing once in four years. The club are also very keen to add to their defensive options. Alex Disasi and Trevor Chalobah are names who are mooted to leave while young Strasbourg central defender 19-year-old Mamadou Sarr has been brought in to strengthen the ranks.
If anything, Chelsea’s reliance on youth is the future but also its Achilles heel. A team’s success is built on its defensive foundations and there have been times when Robert Sanchez’s mental walkabouts, Levi Colvill’s naivety, Marc Cucurella’s positioning and Reece James’s difficulties with both injury and the manager have all contributed to lost matches and poor runs.
In the midfield ranks, Jadon Sancho leaves the club at the end of his loan at the end of June after personal terms could not be agreed. Noni Madueke has had his moments, but Chelsea are keen to take a punt on another young twentysomething with Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund mentioned as a strong possibility. Pedro Neto has probably been the most consistent performer in recent weeks. Tellingly, the former Wolves player has more experience than most of his teammates.
Moses Caicedo has finally come through as the team’s player of the season. He will need stability and creativity around him as the squad needs more leadership from back to front. That’s where the age profile might hold them back from a consistent challenge to teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City who have all been hardened to title challenges over the last six years.
Chelsea need to remember need to draw on the first part of 2024 in terms of their aim for the Premier League. When the tests came over that busy festive and January period, the team didn’t react well to pressure. Their 45-year-old coach was also quick to dampen expectations when the Blues were flying. That was either clever man management or derailed the team psychologically.
Chelsea only rose again when it was too late to challenge for the title. That may sum up the real aim for 2025/26. This team isn’t ready for a tussle with the bigger boys until their own boys turn into men.
