Chelsea will take on Crystal Palace in their first match of the 2025/26 Premier League season as Enzo Maresca begins his second campaign in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues head coach is still in his debut season, with the FIFA Club World Cup expanding the campaign longer than usual, but it has been a case of so far, so good for his side. Qualifying for the Champions League was absolutely imperative for Maresca and the club in general. Adding a Conference League trophy was a lovely added bonus for the Italian coach.
Next season, though, Maresca will want to kick on. Chelsea are back in the Champions League and the club are trying to provide their head coach with a squad capable of competing on all four fronts throughout the campaign. That is why, as is the case with the majority of transfer windows, the Blues have been linked with so many players this summer.
Chelsea are preparing to make a fresh offer to Borussia Dortmund for left winger Jamie Gittens, football.london understands. The Blues had a £42million bid turned down by the Black and Yellow for the 20-year-old last week but talks have continued since over a new and improved proposal.
Gittens is understood to be pushing for a move to Stamford Bridge with the England Under-21 international making it perfectly clear he wants to leave Dortmund. However, the Bundesliga club are holding out for somewhere near the £50million-mark while Chelsea are looking to find some sort of middle ground in negotiations.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have also shown an interest in Lyon winger Malick Fofana. The Blues have sounded out the French club over a possible move for the 20-year-old Belgian, who has impressed in his debut season in Ligue 1. While there is definite interest in Fofana, the move is nowhere near as advanced as the Gittens one.
Elsewhere, Chelsea could be tempted to revisit the Mike Maignan situation later in the summer after they saw an offer of just less than £13million rejected by AC Milan earlier in the month. The France goalkeeper has just over 12 months remaining on his contract at the San Siro and Chelsea believe there is a chance they can land him for a cut-price fee this summer.
Hugo Ekitike, meanwhile, remains a genuine possibility for Chelsea. There is a big interest from the Blues in the Eintracht Frankfurt striker, despite already securing the signing of Liam Delap this month, however there are concerns over the price being quoted by the Bundesliga club for the Frenchman's signature.
Frankfurt are holding out for €100million (£85million) for Ekitike, who also has keen admirers in Liverpool. Chelsea will not pay the aforementioned price and have been in talks with Frankfurt over the last few weeks over alternative fees.
With all of this being said, football.london takes a look at what would be a dream starting XI for Maresca to choose when Chelsea take on Palace on the opening day of the season in August:
Chelsea dream line-up vs Crystal Palace: Maignan; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke/Neto, Palmer, Gittens; Delap/Ekitike.
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