Chelsea bosses OK with finishing outside top 4, claims Maresca

New Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca will apparently be given plenty of time to settle into his role. The Italian recently arrived at the club after Mauricio Pochettino was fired following the 2023/24 season. Pochettino took the Blues up to sixth in the table following a disastrous 12th-placed finish in 2022/23. Although things were looking up for the Argentine, Blues brass decided to move on ahead of the summer transfer window.

Pochettino only received a lone season at the helm, but Chelsea looks set to be more patient with Maresca. In fact, the new manager claims that ownership has informed him that a move up the table is not necessary. This means that the Blues do not need to qualify for the Champions League.

“What I can say is that nobody from the club asked me for the Champions League this year,” Maresca told reporters on Friday. “Nobody said that we need to finish in the first four. What they said is that we need to step-by-step arrive and compete.”

“If you ask me, my dream is to compete with the teams that at this moment are dominating English football. A very good target already [is] when the owner, sporting directors, the managers and players all have the same idea we are going in the same direction.”

Top English teams consider finishing outside of top four as a disaster

Chelsea not securing a place in the Premier League’s top four would typically be seen as a disaster. This is particularly the case within the last two decades. Thanks to Roman Abramovich’s previous reign as the club’s owner, the Blues became a powerhouse in English soccer.

While Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool were the cream of the crop, Chelsea broke into this upper echelon through massive spending.

For instance, the Blues have collected five of their six English top-flight titles since 2004. They have also won all of their Champions League and Europa League trophies during this timeframe as well.

Qualifying for the lucrative Champions League is a bare minimum for the big clubs. Winning actual trophies is the goal for most of the top teams. However, finishing in the top four of the table at least gives clubs a massive financial boost looking ahead.

Chelsea’s current priority is trimming a bloated squad

In the short term, Chelsea is seemingly focused on cutting back on their bloated squad. The Blues currently have 43 senior players on the roster and need to trim this figure down significantly while the transfer window remains open. Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, and Romelu Lukaku headline the list of stars that the club is trying to sell.

Nevertheless, a series of other players also need to find a new home. Blues brass, however, only have themselves to blame in the situation. Since new ownership took over in 2022, the team has signed 36 new players to permanent contracts. Despite Chelsea’s overspending, they are still currently working on deals to bring in even more additions to the squad.

Maresca will have a tough task trimming down his swelled squad when he picks his first team of the season. The Blues first face reigning Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday in the marquee matchup of the opening weekend.

Photo credits: IMAGO / Colorsport : IMAGO / PA Images.