Enzo Maresca as the new coach of Chelsea set a sad milestone in the pre-season: winning only once in 6 friendly matches. That victory was against Mexican champion Club America, who is ranked 9th in the domestic league in the new season.
Chelsea also faced the champions of England, Spain, Scotland and Italy in their season warm-up matches. Next to that is Wrexham, the team promoted from League Two last season. It was a challenging series of matches for the Blues.
Against Manchester City, Chelsea trailed by 2 goals within 5 minutes. The 2-4 defeat probably did not reflect the true development of the match and Maresca should be sympathized.
But it's not just about results. There is also a pervasive sense of chaos at Stamford Bridge. This is said to be the time when Chelsea needs to reap the rewards after spending more than 1 billion pounds by the American owners.
They signed young players to avoid maximum disruption as the project progressed. Simply put, players will develop their stature at the club itself. But in the summer of 2024, 9 more players arrived at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea 's attempt to sign 20-year-old striker Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid failed when a contract could not be agreed. The Blues then turned their attention to a potential deal with Joao Felix, another Atletico Madrid player.
Negotiations are also ongoing with Napoli's Victor Osimhen. This means Romelu Lukaku will move in the opposite direction. Lukaku has now spent 6 seasons on Chelsea's payroll with a total of 159 matches. However, only 36 of those matches were for the Blues because he was loaned to West Brom, Everton, Inter Milan and AS Roma.
Chelsea's biggest signing this summer is Pedro Neto, bought from Wolves for £51 million. The 24-year-old player has huge development potential even if his goal output is doubtful. But is Neto's appearance an admission by Chelsea that Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are failed signings?
Filip Jorgenson also became the 7th goalkeeper on Chelsea's books. Meanwhile, Omari Kellyman is another difficult to explain contract for the Blues this summer. Perhaps, Chelsea's purpose is to avoid violating the Premier League's Sustainability and Profitability Rules (PSR) instead of professional reasons.
It's easy to forget that Chelsea really played well in the post-Christmas period last season. They rose to the group to qualify for the Europa League and reached the Carabao Cup final. But then Mauricio Pochettino left by general consensus, which is often an understatement.
For now, there are still positives for Maresca. Cole Palmer played excellently last season, Malo Gusto shows great promise while Marc Cucurella is making a strong resurgence. Christopher Nkunku also appears to be fully fit after last season's injury problems.
Chelsea does not lack good players, even many. The problem is that amidst all the noise and trouble at Stamford Bridge, does Maresca have enough sanity?
