Enzo Maresca: Chelsea will ‘dominate’ Premier League in next five to ten years
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says the club will “dominate” the Premier League in the next five to 10 years.
The 44-year-old Italian has repeatedly played down his side’s title chances this season, despite Chelsea sitting third in the table and level on points and goal difference with Mikel Arteta’s challengers Arsenal.
Chelsea move past struggling champions Manchester City with a game in hand 3-0 win over Aston Villa at home Sunday, but still nine points behind league leaders Liverpool.
However, Maresca continues to push back on Chelsea’s willingness to prepare for title contention despite their world-record run in multiple transfer windows under Todd Boley and Clearlake Capital Group.
Since acquiring Clearlake, Chelsea have spent more than £1.5bn, mainly on young players with longer contracts, although that has been balanced by a spate of sales.
The likes of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson have all reached peak form, and Cole Palmer has (Cole Palmer)’s star power grew even further.
But Maresca believes his team’s average age of just over 23 and lack of experience contributed to their eventual poor performance this season.
“We’re not in the championship game. In my opinion, we’re not,” Maresca said.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League game away to Southampton, Maresca added: “What I said to the owners and the sporting director when I first met them, because of the age and because of how good the team is, it speaks to me. Say Chelsea will be the one or the one team that will dominate English football in the next five to ten years.
“That’s what I said to the club when I first met them. Whoever is going to be the manager, in the next five or 10 years you can dominate English football because of the age, the squad and I still think it’s exactly the same.
“As far as goals go, they didn’t ask me to come up with any goals, just trying to build something important for the next few years. I think we’re going in the right direction.
“As far as personal goals, I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I’m not focused on the end of the season, next season, because it’s not real.”
Chelsea finished 12th and 6th in their first two seasons under new American ownership, but did not win a trophy, but have begun to stabilize and improve under Maresca.
Maresca, meanwhile, gave no specific timetable for Wesley Fofana’s recent hamstring injury but said the 23-year-old centre-back will be out for “a few weeks” along with captain Reece James.
