According to London Football, a British media outlet, Chelsea plans to bring in immediate impact players this summer, with Xabi Alonso seen as the ideal choice to rebuild the team's culture.
Enzo Maresca had a slight smile on his face when asked if Chelsea were "ready" for the start of the 2025/26 season. Usually, head coaches would firmly answer "yes," but for Chelsea, this time was unusual.
The truth is, he didn't know either. About 282 days ago, before Chelsea's August season opener against Crystal Palace, the former Chelsea manager was asked if his team was "ready" to compete at the highest level again.
Maresca said at the time: "We feel ready, but we'll have to wait for the real games to test it. As you said, the break is indeed very short. We will try to be well-prepared."
The so-called short break meant Chelsea only had 22 days between the Club World Cup final and the resumption of training last summer. This was a special situation after the first Club World Cup under the new format, and no one knew what would happen next.
However, Chelsea did have reasons to be optimistic at the time, and everything started well. So well that the Blues rose to second place in the Premier League table by the end of November. So well that Maresca had to step in to curb some overly excited people who started talking about contending for the title.
At the beginning of the season, Chelsea looked like they were still basking in the glory of winning the Club World Cup, but that feeling would fade sooner or later. It was like waking up after a night of drinking, before the hangover truly hits.
The hangover did come later, and in quite a brutal way in December, which also fits Chelsea's trajectory in recent years. What was a promising season then turned into chaos at Stamford Bridge. This wasn't the only reason for Chelsea's poor season; there were many problems, but it certainly didn't help.
The loss to Leeds United on December 3 marked the beginning of a month of turmoil on and off the field for Chelsea. This was followed by the now-famous lengthy complaint about the "worst 48 hours."
By the time 2026 arrived, some people hadn't even managed to articulate their New Year's resolutions before Maresca had already departed. Maresca had a falling out with the club's board, and their relationship was severely damaged, ultimately leading to a mutual agreement to part ways.
After Callum MacFarlane's brief interim spell, Liam Rosenior seemed destined to succeed Maresca, and indeed he did. The former Strasbourg manager had experience working with BlueCo, and it was easy to connect the dots. Some even considered it an "intra-group appointment," which might be a bit harsh. Rosenior signed a six-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea, but after a poor run of results, he was sacked less than four months into his tenure.
MacFarlane then took over the team until the end of the season, and occasionally managed to elicit some performances from Chelsea players. But to be honest, what was more concerning was that many players in the squad seemed to have already "clocked out."
On Sunday night, Beijing time (CEST), Chelsea lost 1-2 to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, thus concluding their season and confirming their absence from any European competition next season. After the match, João Pedro apologized to the traveling fans. The Brazilian forward, who scored 20 goals in his debut season in West London, was perhaps the Chelsea player who least needed to apologize. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old forward's willingness to face the fans directly is commendable.
After the final whistle, Enzo Fernández conspicuously waved to the away stand, a gesture that could be interpreted as a farewell. Following explosive comments made during the March international break, the Argentine midfielder will face a lot of transfer speculation this summer.
Cucurella did not make a similar waving gesture, but like Enzo Fernández, his future will be filled with uncertainty this summer after an interview a few months ago.
The truth is, Chelsea need to offload more than just a few players in the upcoming summer transfer window. Who exactly, I will elaborate on later this week on football.london, but now is not the time.
Chelsea received their 11th red card of the season in the Sunderland match (including Maresca's red card), highlighting the team's lack of the mental toughness required to compete at the level BlueCo expects. BlueCo knows this, and they will try to address this issue this summer.
Sources say that Chelsea will target immediate impact players this summer, hoping that new arrivals can make an instant difference. While the ownership group and sports management team will not completely deviate from their recruitment policy centered on young players, they will make adjustments to try to get the club back on track. After all, after progress in the 2024/25 season, the 2025/26 season looks like a significant step backward.
Xabi Alonso will be at the heart of all this, but it won't be easy. The Spaniard will officially take office on July 1, and he faces a huge challenge at Stamford Bridge. However, Alonso already knew this when he agreed to sign a four-year contract earlier this month.
Chelsea needs to reshape its team culture, and they want Alonso to lead this effort. When Alonso was appointed, sources told football.london that the club believes the 44-year-old coach is the ideal person to enter Cobham and build a team culture. Not just to build a team on the field, but to establish a united group off the field. The club's sporting directors believe this is a fundamental part of success in modern football.
After Sunday's frustrating loss to Sunderland, Chelsea fans might find it difficult to feel excited, but from the Blues' perspective, there is still reason to look forward to the future. Alonso is the main reason for optimism.
As mentioned earlier, this will not be an easy road. But if Chelsea is prepared to support the new head coach in all aspects, and there is currently no indication that they won't, then good days may not be far away.
In short, nine months have passed since the draw against Crystal Palace last August. Chelsea has experienced two managerial changes, a shocking Maresca press conference, two explosive player interviews, several fan protests, and countless corner kick goals in the Premier League. Now, the season is finally over.