Chelsea-Arsenal: ‘A work in progress’: How Enzo Maresca is changing the Blues’ fortunes

Serious decisions had to be made upon his arrival, particularly the sale of youth product Conor Gallagher to Atlético Madrid.

The club spoke with Maresca about its intentions; He has the freedom to accept players and question the club’s decisions.

His squad is already full of players he wanted, except for one case in which he accepted the club’s approval despite not being sure.

But with Gallagher everyone was aligned.

With barely one year left on the midfielder’s contract, Chelsea and Maresca found themselves between a rock and a hard place.

If he stayed he would have to renew, but they were struggling to agree on financial demands and Chelsea were never going to allow his contract to expire. The player had to leave.

On the other side was Joao Félix, who returned to the Blues after spending an unsuccessful loan spell there in 2023, but on much lower wages and a seven-year contract.

“I don’t work miracles,” is one of Maresca’s favorite sayings, and you can imagine him referring to a player who has struggled to fulfill his potential.

The club, however, was convinced that he could be useful and that Maresca’s meticulous work would make him improve. Finally the coach accepted the challenge.

Felix was an exception to the rule. Chelsea’s model works on the basis that its potential stars (young players with enormous qualities) receive a fixed sum plus performance-related incentives.

The new owners say they don’t want to be hamstrung by high wages like the previous regime was.

It’s about trying to build a long-term sustainable model that allows players who impress to be rewarded with extensions and more money, as Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer got in their new contracts, while also allowing the club to unwind. Of those who underperform, they are easier to achieve when they are on an average Premier League salary.

Enzo Fernández, for example, arrived from Benfica in January 2023 for 107 million pounds, but with a nine and a half year contract.

The deal was certainly an improvement on what the midfielder was earning at Benfica, but it was still said to be nowhere near what he could have earned elsewhere.

Chelsea’s owners say long-term contracts are not awarded with the aim of trying to amortize a player’s value over several years, but rather to build the right model for the club to be sustainable, including training of a template that can be together. for years.

It doesn’t matter how much a player costs, but he has to come with one great condition: having the right training, character and ability to work as a team.

Maresca, identified by the club to guide him over the next decade, can count on any player he wants as long as he is under 24 years old and willing to commit to the team long-term.

He wants two players for each position at least and, with that already established, he does not plan to sign more than two or three in each transfer window.

To outsiders, one of the most impressive things Maresca has done is stabilize a team that was considered hugely bloated, with talks of more than 45 players. The coach, however, has a squad of 23 players in the first team and that is what he has dealt with from day one.

Many clubs will have a squad of around 18 of their strongest players and the rest will be made up of youngsters. Chelsea have added one or two more due to this season’s schedule, which could see them play 70 games in four competitions, plus the Club World Cup.

Chelsea believes that talking about an oversized squad is also exaggerated, because it includes players who have suffered medium and long-term injuries, those who have been pre-signed with a view to the future and others who do not fit into Maresca’s plan and will be moved on.