- Chelsea’s new coach, Enzo Maresca, faces Manchester City in his first Premier League match, amid pressure to build a cohesive team
- Despite over £1 billion spent on transfers, Chelsea’s squad includes 43 players, complicating Maresca’s efforts to establish stability
Chelsea’s new coach, Enzo Maresca, faces a tough Premier League debut on Sunday as the reigning champions Manchester City visit. The Italian is under pressure to mold a cohesive team following another turbulent transfer window for the Blues.
Since the club’s takeover two years ago by a consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, Chelsea has continued its trend of aggressive spending, this time focusing on young talent. The most notable signing in this window is winger Pedro Neto, who joined from Wolves for £54 million ($65 million). Chelsea has brought in nine new players at an estimated cost of £160 million.
Despite spending over £1 billion on transfers in the past two years, Chelsea’s first-team roster now includes 43 players, with more than 50 still under contract, including those out on loan. Many players have been excluded from Maresca’s pre-season training as the club seeks to offload them before the transfer window closes.
“If I start to think about having 43 players, it’s not a good thing,” Maresca said on Friday. He added that Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, are tasked with finding solutions for these excess players. “I’m not the guy in charge of finding solutions for loan players, otherwise they’d have to pay me double!” he quipped.
Maresca also faces the challenge of winning over a frustrated fan base. Many Chelsea supporters had hoped for stability after Mauricio Pochettino improved their performance last season, leading them to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League. However, after just one season, the club’s hierarchy opted for more changes, parting ways with Pochettino.
Fans are also unhappy with the departure of homegrown players, sacrificed to balance the books. Conor Gallagher, for instance, will not be available for selection on Sunday despite the collapse of his move to Atletico Madrid.
Maresca, who has signed a five-year contract with Chelsea, previously led Leicester back to the Premier League in his only season at the King Power. His managerial experience is limited, with a brief stint at Parma in 2021. Still, his time as an assistant to Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola landed him the Chelsea job.
“All managers need time,” Guardiola said on Friday. “I don’t know if Chelsea is the place to do this, but give him time, and it will work.”
Guardiola, who prefers to work with a smaller squad, sympathizes with Maresca’s challenge. “When you see a double squad, yeah, it’s a lot!” he said. “But the reason why they do it is not my business.”
Chelsea last defeated Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final. Only Reece James and Ben Chilwell remain from that Chelsea lineup just over three years later.
Maresca believes the club is on the right path to compete for the Premier League title again eventually. “The big difference between us and the teams dominating English football right now is just time,” he said. “Clubs that have worked with the same manager for nine years, eight years. We’ve had the same manager for one month.”
The pressing question for Chelsea’s season is whether Maresca will be given the time he needs, considering the club’s history of quick managerial changes.