Chelsea v Arsenal: ‘A work in progress’ – how Enzo Maresca is turning Blues fortunes around
Serious decisions had to be made upon his arrival, not least the sale of youth product Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid.
The club discussed their intentions with Maresca; he has the freedom to accept the player and question the club’s decisions.
His squad is now full of the players he wanted, except for one who he accepted the club’s approval under uncertain circumstances.
But everyone is aligned with Gallagher.
With just one year left on the midfielder’s contract, Chelsea and Maresca find themselves between a rock and a hard place.
If he stayed, he would have to sign a new contract, but they would struggle to agree on financial demands and Chelsea would never allow his contract to expire. player had to leave.
On the other side is Joao Felix, who returned to the Blues after an unsuccessful loan spell in 2023, but with a much lower salary and a seven-year contract.
“I don’t perform miracles,” is one of Maresca’s favorite sayings, and you can imagine him pointing it out to a player struggling to reach his potential.
However, the club believes he can make a difference and that Maresca’s meticulous work will make him even better. Eventually the coach accepted the challenge.
Felix is ​​an exception. Chelsea’s model works on the basis that their potential stars – young players with huge qualities – receive fixed payments plus performance-related incentives.
The new ownership says they don’t want to be tied to high wages like the previous regime.
It’s all about building a long-term sustainable model that allows players who impress to get extensions and more money, like Nicholas Jackson and Cole Palmer in their new contracts while allowing clubs to transfer players who perform well. Underperform, which is easier to do when their wages are at the Premier League average.
For example, Enzo Fernandez signed from Benfica in January 2023 for £107 million on a nine-and-a-half-year contract.
The deal is undoubtedly a boost to the midfielder’s earnings at Benfica, but is said to still be nowhere near what he would earn elsewhere.
The Chelsea boss says signing long-term contracts is not about trying to amortize a player’s value over a few years, but about establishing the right model to make the club sustainable, including shaping a squad that can stick together over the years.
It doesn’t matter how much a player is worth, but they must have one big requirement – ​​having the right background, character and teamwork ability.
Maresca has been identified by the club as their mentor for the next ten years and can have any players he wants as long as they are under 24 and willing to commit to the team long-term.
He wants at least two players in each position and, now that that’s in place, he has no intention of signing more than two or three players per transfer window.
To outsiders, one of the most impressive things Maresca did was stabilize a squad that was considered too bloated and reportedly had more than 45 players. However, the manager has 23 players in his first-team squad and that’s been his problem from day one.
Many clubs will have around 18 of their strongest players in their lineup, with the rest being young people. Chelsea have also added a game or two due to their schedule this season, which could see them play 70 games across four competitions, plus the Club World Cup.
Chelsea believe claims of an oversized squad are also exaggerated as they include players suffering from medium to long-term injuries, those pre-signed for the future and others who do not fit into Maresca’s plans and will be dropped. keep going.
