All things considered, it has been a pretty sweet start to the summer for Chelsea Football Club.
The Blues have won seven of their last nine matches, none more important than a come-from-behind 4-1 victory against Real Betis in the Conference League Final.
From beating out Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest to a Champions League spot and returning to Europe's premier competition after a two-year drought, to claiming their first trophy in four years, Enzo Maresca has built up plenty of credit in the bank during his debut season at Stamford Bridge, and he has the chance to add to that positive streak on Tuesday.
18 days after they pipped Betis to the title in Wroclaw, Poland, Chelsea returned to action with a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles FC in the first match of their FIFA Club World Cup opener in Atlanta, before relinquishing an early lead and succumbing to a 3-1 defeat to Flamengo on June 20.
They remained in Philadelphia for their third match, holding off a challenge from Espérance de Tunis for a knockout round spot and beating them 3-0 via goals from Tosin Adarabioyo, Liam Delap and Tyrique George.
In truth, finishing second in their group ended up being a blessing in disguise: unlike group winners Flamengo, who lost to Bayern Munich in the Round of 16, Chelsea managed to prevail in extra time in a marathon victory against Benfica in Charlotte.
The Blues then traveled north and returned to the City of Brotherly Love, where they clashed with Palmeiras on Friday Night. Cole Palmer opened the scoring early on, but Estévão balanced proceedings in the 53rd minute for the Verdão.
A mere two weeks after being announced as Chelsea's latest signing for a fee of €34 million plus €23 million in performance-based incentives, Estévão delivered a stellar display against Marc Cucurella, which saw him land the Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match for the second time this tournament. However, he was unable to inspire a comeback victory as a late own goal saw the Blues march onto the semifinals, where they will meet Fluminense.
Alongside center forwards Liam Delap and João Pedro, winger Jamie Gittens, and midfielder Dário Essugo, Estévão is one of seven new summer signings that will be looking to reinforce Chelsea's squad. That's not even including returning loanees like Ben Chilwell and Lesley Ugochukwu.
It's likely that Chelsea are going to have to make some sales before they can spend any more in the transfer market. Last week, Chelsea were fined €20 million for failing to approach break-even and €11 million for spending more than a 80% set limit of its revenue on transfers and wages, a record sum that a European club has incurred in penalties across a single campaign.
Alongside the likes of Aston Villa and Barcelona, Chelsea were one of 12 clubs charged with breaching UEFA's financial rules and regulations, with Chelsea, risking being hit with another €60 million fine if they do not regulate their finances.
According to The Times, Chelsea must generate north of £60 million in player sales in order to register all of their new arrivals and comply with UEFA rules that state that any spending to add to their Champions League squad must be covered by the income of outgoing players. What's more, not a single penny from the £54.4m in prize money they've earned from the Club World Cup can help with this predicament.
As such, it is incumbent upon Chelsea to shed players from their squad before they can complete new signings like West Ham's Mohammed Kudus, who has been linked with a move to West London. The only question is, which players?
Chelsea will be looking to part with João Félix, Raheem Sterling, Renato Veiga and Axel Disasi, all of whom were left off the Club World Cup squad, although their massive wages could prove a stumbling block. There are several other players who have been involved in the tournament like Christopher Nkunku, Trevoh Chalobah, and Nicolas Jackson who could be headed for a summer exit as well.
Another player who could be on his way out is Noni Madueke. Despite a promising cameo off the bench which saw him win seven out of 11 ground duels, Madueke's future remains up in the air.
Speaking to FourFourTwo after the game, Maresca admitted, “Noni has been very important for us this season. Today, again, he has been important. But my message to the players and the club is that I only want players who are happy to be with us. The [players] who are not happy are free to go. But again, Noni has been very good during this season and very good tonight.”
Should Chelsea prove unable to cash in on high-earning senior players like Wesley Fofana and Ben Chilwell, they may have no other choice but to cash in on their bevy of youngsters. Chelsea's youth-heavy approach to recruitment has seen many of their new youngsters shipped to sister club Strasbourg on loan, but Chelsea may have no other choice but to sanction permanent sales for young prospects like Aaron Anselmino.
After going from Boca Juniors' academy to the first team, Anselmino earned the attention of Chelsea, who signed him to a seven-year contract for of £15.6 million in August 2024.
Whilst he initially looked set to stay at Boca for the following 12 months, Chelsea recalled him in January. Unfortunately for him, a hamstring injury would sideline him immediately, keeping him out for 82 days. It wasn't until June 28 that he made his first and only appearance for Chelsea, coming on for the final minutes of their win vs. Benfica.
"The truth is, Maresca is teaching me to be more patient on the ball, which is something that I can improve at," stated Anselmino to FourFourTwo. "Over the past six months, there was that injury in the middle, but I've also been learning the English language and learn how Chelsea plays tactically. He's helped me a lot in my growth as a player."
"I had a lot of muscular injuries in Boca, but I'm trying to improve in that...I feel much better now. and also change my diet, where I've been a lot more professional. I understood that I needed to treat my body as such because in Europe, the rhythm is different, the competition is much tougher, but little by little, I'm improving in that regard."
Will Anselmino make his second Chelsea appearance against Fluminense? Stay tuned for what promises to be an enticing showdown in New Jersey.
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