Chelsea season preview: preseason overview, aims for the season, transfers so far and more

Chelsea will be heading into the 2024-25 Premier League campaign with their fourth permanent manager since BlueCo took over its hierarchy in 2022.

Graham Potter became the first managerial appointment under American ownership after Thomas Tuchel was sacked in less than ten games in to the 2023 campaign. Potter endured a disastrous spell in West London where he was sacked and replaced by Frank Lampard in an interim role.

The appointment of Mauricio Pochettino last summer raised high hopes among fans with Chelsea tickets – who were expecting the Argentine manager to challenge for the top four.

While the former Tottenham Hotspur manager was found wanting tactically on some occasions, his team began to find rhythm at the latter stage of the season and ultimately finished in sixth place, only five points behind Aston Villa in fourth.

Five wins out of their last five would have been a good enough reason to allow Pochettino to build but some in-house disparities led to the Argentine’s departure from the club on mutual consent.

Then came Enzo Maresca, a Pep Guardiola protege and winner of the EFL Championship in his first job at top-flight football, the Italian manager will be looking to replicate the success of other Italian managers who all achieved success at Chelsea.

An attractive brand of football, playing to player’s strengths and an ardent nurturer of young talents were just a few reasons why Chelsea opted for the 44-year-old.

Maresca will now hope for a positive spell at Stamford Bridge but could be hand BlueCo their first men silverware?

Here’s a preview of Chelsea’s campaign so far and what to expect from the Blues boss ahead of the new Premier League campaign:

Preseason overview

Chelsea’s preseason was not entirely vintage. They only grinned out one win against Club America and lost three matches against Celtic, Manchester City and Real Madrid while playing out a 1-1 draw in their final preseason game of the season at Stamford Bridge.

Bar the results, they’re positives to take from their performances. It is important to note that Chelsea’s three losses came against Scottish champions, English Champions and Spanish champions. Aside from the loss to Celtic, the Blues showed a great spell of an attractive brand of football that will be prevalent in the team when they fully get acquainted with Marescas’s style of play.

Chelsea dominated all their opponents in preseason including City where the Blues recorded 57% possession and 501 passes against the Cityzens 395.

They also create a flurry of chances but finishing has been quite a problem so far.

The defence has also been lacklustre with Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile looking rusty and out of position most times.

Their on and off-ball movements have improved as well and they’ve been a lot of inverting from their fullbacks.

They’re positive signs of a fluid style of play if properly polished and Chelsea fans are enthusiastic to see how it turns to results in the Premier League next season.

Style of play

Like his master, Pep, Maresca is a disciplined tactician who is dedicated to the technicalities of ‘positional play’.

As seen in his Leicester setup, the Italian manager lines up his team in a 4-3-3 formation that usually turns to a 3-2-5 shape when they’re on the ball.

The full backs particularly the right back regularly inverts into midfield to create an overload and a numerical advantage against their opponents.

Out of possession, Maresca’s Leicester would counter-press quickly, aiming to win the ball high up the pitch and in dangerous positions

Out of position, his team showcases a speedy counter-press high up the pitch with the aim of winning the ball in dangerous positions to create transitions or counters that will lead to a chance creation.

Marescas’s team does not only hold possession, but some fluid passing moves from the back are a joy to watch when fully imbibed by the current Chelsea squad.

Chelsea undoubtedly possesses more quality players than Leicester where Marescas’s style was successful. The likes of Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia are already familiar with the head coach having played under him with City’s under 21, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was a key player under Maresca at Leicester.

The trio as well as Christopher Nkunku, Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernandez will help bring the coach’s style of play to fruition and it’ll only take a short time before results begin to come.

Aims for the 2024-25 season

Chelsea have failed to make the top four since the 2021-22 season where they finished fourth.

Two FA Cup finals, two Carabao Cup finals and a Champions League quarter-final are just the climax Chelsea has reached under the new ownership.

With Marescas’s appointment, Chelsea would savour the chance of achieving silverware this season. They’ve lost their last six consecutive finals at Wembley with four of those coming under the BlueCo ownership.

On the other hand, the Blues are yet to finish in the top four under the new ownership. The club’s hierarchy only joined the club a long way after Thomas Tuchel all but secured fourth position so that success cannot fully be attributed to BlueCo. A 12th-place finish and a 6th-place finish are the other positions Chelsea have finished in the past two seasons.

Surely, a leap in League position will be high on Chelsea’s agenda this season and a Champions League qualification would give the free-spending Chelsea board much more leverage to further chase expensive signings.

Transfers so far

Chelsea are into the third transfer window of the Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly era and have so far outspent all their rivals.

Their transfer strategy is two dimensional — one in which they aim to secure the brightest young talents with immense potential for the future — and second by getting players that would reinforce their current squad.

Among the youngsters signed for the future, Chelsea have secured the transfer of highly coveted Brazilian winger, William Estevao who will join the club next summer when he turns 18 while talks are ongoing to sign Gremio’s teenage midfield gem, Gabriel Mec.

They’re also closing on an agreement with Genk to sign young goalkeeper, Mike Penders in a £17m deal while Argentine starlet, Aaron Anselmino has completed a move to the club from Boca Juniors where he will spend the remainder of the season on loan.

Caleb Wiley is the other youngster signed to the BlueCo youth project from MLS side Atlanta. The United States international has since been loaned to Strasbourg to gain regular playing time.

For the first team, Chelsea completed an early acquisition of Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer from Fulham while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall followed his coach to Stamford Bridge where he hopes to replicate his form at Leicester last season.

Versatile defender, Renato Veiga — who Joined from FC Basel, seems to be a smart piece of business from Chelsea — with the Portuguese comfortable in slotting into centre-back, left-back or defensive midfield.

Omari Kellyman was involved in a separate deal that saw Ian Maatsen move to Aston Villa while Kellyman joined Chelsea.

Marc Guiu has also impressed so far since joining Chelsea from Barcelona for a £5m fee. With Chelsea still chasing a centre-forward, it is unclear if the Spaniard will leave on loan, or remain with the first team.

Filip Jorgensen became Chelsea’s eight first team goalkeeper at the club after sealing a £20.7m move from Spanish side, Villarreal. His ball-playing abilities attracted Chelsea’s interest and he’ll be battling with fellow Spaniard, Robert Sanchez for a place in the starting lineup.

Chelsea confirmed the signing of Pedro Neto in a £54m deal from Wolverhampton Wanderers. The 24-year-old’s transfer came with no criticism this time as his quality is undeniable and would propel Marescas’s attack next season.

Chelsea have signed nine players so far this summer and they’re not done yet. They’re still in the market for another attacker with recent reports indicating a possible return of João Felix to the club.