As the Chelsea players enjoy a much-needed rest before they return to pre-season action, the side they return with will look very different to the one from 12 months ago.
Despite just winning the Club World Cup, the Blues will be back in action on August 8, with two games in three days against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.
Enzo Maresca will be desperate to allow his players suitable recovery time ahead of the 2025/26 season getting underway, however he will also want to go into the new season in a better shape than how he did last year.
The Blues won just one of their six pre-season fixtures in the United States last summer, and this run of games included a damning 4-1 defeat to Celtic.
Enzo Maresca’s first Chelsea side included eight players already out of his plans
The tour got underway with an underwhelming 2-2 draw with Wrexham, the game where the Maresca reign begun with a false start.
The Italian named two different XIs for each half. They went into the break 1-0 up thanks to a goal from Christopher Nkunku.
Maresca handed a first start for the club to Tyrique George, who would go on to break into the first team squad in the upcoming campaign.
Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke also started, with the latter having just completed a move to Arsenal. Chukwuemeka spent the second half of last season at Borussia Dortmund after making one Chelsea start up until January.
The second half XI clearly struggled up against their EFL opponents, looking as if they would be defeated before Lesley Ugochukwu found the net late on.
Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja and Raheem Sterling were all given their chance to impress the new manager, however clearly didn’t succeed and are now firmly out of the plans at Stamford Bridge.
While Josh Acheampong and Andrey Santos certainly have a future at the club, two of those who featured have already departed.
Angelo Gabriel made a move to Saudi Arabia, while Lucas Bergstrom was let go by the club days after being part of the Conference League winning-squad.
New Chelsea stars ready to make their impact
Chelsea’s upcoming pre-season fixtures will give home fans their first look at Joao Pedro and Liam Delap after they made their impact during the Club World Cup.
There will also be the first opportunity for Estevao Willian and Jamie Gittens to make their mark on Maresca ahead of the new season.
A stacked campaign that will see the Blues return to Champions League football for the first time since 2023 will require plenty of rotation from the manager, and these new players are going to play a key role in building on an impressive 24/25 season.
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