Chelsea have made a solid start to the season under Enzo Maresca despite being presented with a fair few obstacles, and the Blues briefly climbed to second in the Premier League table last weekend.
Maresca's approach has been defined by extensive squad rotation, a strategy that has drawn both praise and criticism.
The Italian has made 93 changes in total this season, a staggering number and more than any other Premier League side. This rotation policy could reflect Chelsea's depth and ambitions to compete on all four fronts, even if Maresca reportedly isn't completely satisfied with the squad right now.
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That being said, injuries and suspensions have significantly tested that depth this term.
Levi Colwill remains a long-term absentee after sustaining an ACL injury during pre-season training in August, ruling him out for most of the campaign and likely England's Euro 2026 preparations. Superstar forward Cole Palmer has also been sidelined with a niggling groin injury since September, with Maresca initially expecting him to return shortly after the last international break before the recovery timeline was extended by six weeks.
The England international missed a full month of action and was targeting a return in December, but he is now expected to return before the end of this month and could feature against Barcelona in the Champions League.
Palmer Estevao
The striker department has been particularly affected by injuries. Summer signing Liam Delap sustained a hamstring problem early in the 2-0 win over Fulham in August, leaving him out for two months, and following his return from a lengthy layoff, the forward's comeback quickly turned into a disaster.
Delap picked up two needless yellow cards against Wolves, prompting fury from Maresca, who labelled his conduct 'embarrassing'.
L. Delap
After Roméo Lavia's latest in a long line of injuries since joining from Southampton, Chelsea's medical room is starting to feel overcrowded again, but the west Londoners have done well to navigate it with Colwill, Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, Enzo Fernández, Pedro Neto, Dario Essugo, Delap, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos and Josh Acheampong all missing at various points.
Chelsea became the first team in history to win all five UEFA club tournaments back in May, and as Maresca looks to build upon that feat, their form on paper suggests the club have every chance of doing so.
BlueCo's ownership appears to finally be reaping dividends, but it hasn't always been this way.
There's been a fair few trial and error, high-profile mistakes since Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly took over the club in 2022, not least their deal for ex-Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang admits Chelsea transfer was a "big mistake"
Speaking to YouTube content creator Troopz, via ESPN, Aubameyang himself has now admitted that joining Chelsea was a "big mistake".
"That was a big mistake going there," Aubameyang said.
"At that time, I had a bad moment in Barcelona. I had a home break-in and Barça needed to sell a player — me or Memphis Depay — and the only thing that was on the table was Chelsea.
"So I said, 'OK, for my family, I will move away, even if it's Chelsea'.
"I was thinking maybe it will be OK, Olivier Giroud went from Arsenal to Chelsea and he had no problems. But for me it was different."
Aubameyang signed for Chelsea in September 2022 for a reported fee of around £10 million, reuniting with his former boss at Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel. However, Tuchel was sacked just days after the Gabonese's arrival, setting the tone for a disastrous spell.
He was handed his first Premier League appearance in October, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-1 away victory over Crystal Palace. The now-Marseille striker made 21 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, scoring just three goals, and all three of them came in the space of ten days that October.
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Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
By February, he was dropped from the Champions League squad by Graham Potter, highlighting his fall from grace, and he didn't fare any better under Frank Lampard either. Aubameyang struggled for form and consistency, and just 10 months after signing, the 36-year-old left Chelsea and signed a three-year deal with Marseille on a free transfer.
He'll go down as one of, if not the worst signing of BlueCo's tenure — so the feeling of regret will be pretty mutual in London.