Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says the club will “dominate” the Premier League in the next five to ten years.
The 44-year-old Italian has repeatedly downplayed his team’s title chances this season, despite Chelsea being third in the table and level on points and goal difference with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Chelsea overtook champions Manchester City after a convincing 3-0 home win against Aston Villa on Sunday, but are still nine points behind league leaders Liverpool.
However, Maresca continues to deny Chelsea’s willingness to compete for titles despite world record sums in multiple transfer windows under his ownership group Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
Chelsea have spent more than £1.5bn since acquiring Clearlake, largely on younger players on longer contracts, although offset by substantial sales.
Players like Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson are reaching their peak form, adding to the stellar impact of Cole Palmer over the last 18 months.
But Maresca believes the inexperience of his team, which has an average age of just over 23, is one of the reasons they will ultimately fall short this season.
“We are not in the title race. In my opinion, we are not,” Maresca said.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League match at Southampton, Maresca added: “What I said to the owners and sporting directors when I first met them, because of the age and how good the team is, for me the Chelsea in the next Within five to ten years it will be one of the teams, or the team, that is going to dominate English football.
“This is what I told the club when I first met them. It doesn’t matter who the manager is, for the next five or ten years, because of the age, because of the team, you can dominate English football, and they still think exactly what same.
“In terms of a goal, they didn’t ask me for any goal, just to try to build something important for the next few years. I think we are [heading] in the right direction.
“In terms of a personal goal, I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I’m not focused on [the] At the end of the season, next season, because it’s not real.”
Chelsea finished 12th and sixth in the first two seasons under their new American owner, without winning a trophy, but have begun to stabilize and improve under Maresca.
Meanwhile, Maresca did not give an exact timetable on Wesley Fofana’s latest hamstring injury but said the 23-year-old centre-back would be out for “weeks” along with captain Reece James.
