**Chelsea**look forward to the first of two preseason friendlies on Friday against Bayer Leverkusen. Their manager, Enzo Maresca, is in charge of a much more settled situation at Stamford Bridge, and he has admitted that there is a "much better" mood behind the scenes at the club than a year ago.
‘He is like Cole in terms of position’
Many new men have come to the club, but Maresca made clear his plans to gently ease in the arrivals.
“Jamie Gittens* is the only one that knows a little bit the country. The rest are from different countries and need to adapt. Players like Jorrel Hato and Estevao need to adapt. Fortunately, Dario Essugo, Liam Delap, Andrey Santos, Joao Pedro were with us in USA. So, it's much more easy for them.”*
The most recent newcomer, Jorrel Hato, became the captain of his old club, Ajax, at the age of 17. He can cover as a central defender or as a left back and should be able to relieve the burden on Marc Cucurella. However, the £35 million man is not being expected to act as a starter from the get-go.
“He is much more mature than his age. But with him the message is the same. Different country and league, different tempo, different intensity. He needs to adapt but no doubt that he’s going to help us.”
Maresca may call on the services of the Dutchman soon if one of his mainstays is still missing.
“We had a problem the last two days about Levi Colwill that we don't know how long he is going to be out. So we will see for how long. Hopefully not too long but for sure this is a problem for us.
“On Monday in the last minutes of the session he felt something. We need to wait and then we see.”
Wesley Fofana played only 14 times in the Premier League last term, missing much of the campaign with a hamstring injury. The Frenchman is close to being back in the selection plans for the manager.
“Wes is back training. I don’t think he’ll get minutes in the two games but probably can be available for Palace. This is big news because we started last season with Wes and Levi as central defenders.”
In the final third, Nicolas Jackson is a valuable asset. His carries, creativity, and energy make him a brilliant support striker. However, the presence of Delap and Pedro might force him out of the side.
“Nico is okay. When the window transfer is open unfortunately or fortunately anything can happen. Two strikers arrived, both of them in USA, Joao and Liam, so we are just seeing what will happen.”
The shiny new toy is Estevao, who has similarities to Cole Palmer as an attacker across the frontline.
“He can play everywhere. He's so good. He is like Cole in terms of position. He can play outside, he can play inside, he can play everywhere across our five attacking positions, he can play everywhere.”
Yet, the Italian indicated he does not want to place a heavy burden of expectation on the teenager.
*“For me, biggest mistake we can do with him is to put him under pressure. He is young. I met him for the first time in USA when we play against Palmeiras. He’s a fantastic player. He is very young. He is a very happy boy. He's always laughing. Typical from Brazilian guy. And we need to keep him happy.”*
‘It’s strange. It’s different’
It is the fourth campaign for BlueCo in West London and the squad are setting their sights on the top.
“It's important to start in the way we finished last season, knowing it has been a strange end. It's something that happened for the first time. We need to see how we adapt. But we need to be ready.”
But the uncertainty of their prep comes from a unique schedule. The Blues battled to a 3-0 victory in the Club World Cup final over Paris Saint-Germain, so their preseason has only just kicked off.
*“I'm quite curious because it's the first time. So, I don't know. It's strange. It's different. I don't know. Palace started the day after we finish in USA. We are three weeks off. We started two days ago. We have two games in 48 hours and then go for the Premier League. We see game by game, day by day.”*
Maresca mentioned how he had concentrated on letting the players rest after such a long campaign.
“The focus was just to allow them to recovery because we played 64 games. It has never happened before. The main focus was to allow player to recover, come back here and we see game by game.”
The group have returned in high spirits. In the last two and a half months, they earned a spot in the top four, won the first title of the Todd Boehly era with a 4-1 triumph over Real Betis in the Conference League final, and became champions of the world. Those feats have built belief in a young camp.
*“The mood is much better in terms of when you finish the season in the way we finish quite strong with the top five, **Conference League**and Club World Cup., I think it's going to give players more energy, more boost, but we need to see how we manage this new kind of situation for everyone.”*
At the same time, it seems that the club is coming through the other side of the chaos from the initial spending spree. Some parts of the 'bomb squad' have forced the hand of the boss, but other players, such as **Ben Chilwell**and Raheem Sterling, are simply waiting for a future of freedom from the club.
“The situation is quite clear. They are training, they are waiting for solutions. When they leave, the club text me or they call me. I don't pay attention with the ones training and they need to leave.”
The Italian is pleased to have a much more standard size of the squad to work with this summer.
“It’s much better to work with 25 players than a bigger number. In this moment we are working with the ones we want. We see from now until the transfer window finishes.”
His target is to get the group that the club have established fit through an even allocation of minutes.
“We are going to try to share minutes all of them. We will see if we are going to try some different things in terms of tactical aspects for the for the season.”