The old mantra of ‘buy cheap, sell high’ seems to have evaded Todd Boehly and the Chelsea hierarchy. In recent years, the club have been operating on the principle of ‘buy high, never sell’ – a principle that has garnered the club more than its fair share of criticism.

The albeit questionable transfer policy of Chelsea under Boehly could however, bear fruit in the upcoming season. To find out just why that might be the case and get a gauge on whether the current Premier League odds are too dismissive of Enzo Maresca’s side, read on…

The Right Manager

There were eyebrows raised in Premier League circles when Chelsea appointed Enzo Maresca as First Team Coach last season. At that point, the only taste of management that the Italian had was a season of failure at Serie B side Parma and a last-minute scramble to the Championship title with a Leicester City side that were arguably the most talented team the English second tier had ever seen.

The eyebrow raising amongst pundits and fans was more than understandable on that basis. In guiding Chelsea to a much improved fourth place finish and Europa Conference League success, Maresca has largely proved his doubters wrong.

With a potential Club World Cup trophy to be won this weekend too, it’s hard to argue that Maresca isn’t the best man to have at the helm for Chelsea in the current moment. Neutrals may find his style of football dull and insipid, but, as Pep Guardiola has proved, dull and insipid football wins titles in England.

Maresca is an acolyte of Guardiola’s and a devotee to the systematic approach of positional football, which is the dominant force in the English game right now. From the current crop of available managers, Maresca is the most capable of turning Chelsea into genuine title contenders.

Squad Depth

One of the perhaps unintended consequences of Chelsea’s kleptomaniacal transfer policy of recent years, is that the club has a huge stockpile of talent. Doubters of the club’s strength in depth need only look to the squads of their rivals for a bit of perspective.

When Declan Rice was unavailable last season, Mikel Arteta was forced to look to Jorginho or Kai Havertz to step into the vacant midfield role. Whereas Maresca can call on a long list of midfield replacements, including the more than capable Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who played just 258 minutes in the league last season.

If Palmer were to miss out last season, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku or Joao Pedro could all have momentarily stepped in to fill the void. Whereas injury to Mohamed Salah would leave Liverpool and Arne Slot reliant on the likes of Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot.

The depth mentioned in those examples is only representative of last season as well. Let’s not forget that Todd Boehly has hundreds of millions of dollars burning a hole in his back pocket this summer. Jamie Gittens is coming in, Liam Delap has joined the club, Joao Pedro is in the building and many more are rumoured to be signing in the coming weeks.

On paper, Chelsea’s squad depth is truly frightening and, in a long and gruelling season, it could give them the edge on their rivals.

Timing

Timing is everything in football. Despite what managers and pundits may say, winning isn’t just as simple as being the best team. Luck, chance and circumstance all play a massive role. If you doubt that, ask yourself whether Leicester City would have won the Premier League in 2016 if Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea were all at the peak of their powers.

Whilst the 2025/26 Premier League landscape isn’t quite what it was in 2015/16, there’s an argument to be made that all of the main contenders have their flaws. Liverpool are an ageing squad with a manager sure to find his second season tougher than his first.

Manchester City are still in the process of a rebuild, and are awaiting possible points deductions for 115 or so reasons and Manchester United and Tottenham are rubbish. The only team going into the new campaign in good shape and with real motivation are Arsenal.

The Gunners are spending big this summer in a bid to finally push their team over the line. In that battle though, Chelsea could have the edge thanks to their squad depth and Arteta’s propensity to overplay his players and rack up injuries to key performers.

Could Enzo Maresca be lifting the Premier League trophy at the end of May? It’s more than possible.