It won’t be long at all until Chelsea’s first-team stars get down to work with new head coach Enzo Maresca at the club’s Cobham training base. Now at the start of June, it will be at the beginning of July when the Blues squad return for the start of pre-season training ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
All eyes will be on what unfolds at Stamford Bridge over the course of the year after Maresca replaced Mauricio Pochettino in the hotseat. Following a season full of ups and downs, the Argentine did appear to have steadied the ship in the final months of 2023/24 and in the end he managed to guide the west London club to a sixth-place finish and European football.
All at Chelsea will be hoping that the team can build on their strong end to the campaign, with Maresca now the man tasked with getting the Blues competing at the top of the Premier League again and for the top honours on offer. The 44-year-old proved to be an instant hit in his year as Leicester City manager and the hope is that he will again be able to make a immediate impact in his new job.
Prior to the start of the upcoming Premier League term, Maresca and his team have a busy pre-season schedule on the agenda as they jet across the Atlantic to the United States. Chelsea’s first game of their summer tour comes against League One side Wrexham, who are owned by Hollywood movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, with the game taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Wednesday, July 24.
The Blues are in action three days later when they face Scottish Premiership champions Celtic. This time Maresca’s side will be playing in Indiana at Notre Dame Stadium.
Chelsea will then travel to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Wednesday, July 31 for a friendly against Club America. They will then face some familiar faces in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, August 3 with Premier League champions Man City their opponents at Ohio Stadium.
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Chelsea wrap up their tour with a mouth-watering clash against Real Madrid in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game will take place at the Bank of America Stadium on Tuesday, August 6.
A key period for Maresca as he looks to get his plans in place for the upcoming campaign, the Italian will have to make do with some of his first-team stars returning to pre-season training at various points due to Euro 2024 and the Copa America taking place this summer. Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher and Mykhailo Mudryk are just some of the stars set to be involved in the Euros in Germany, with Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo participants at the Copa America in the United States.
Maresca and Chelsea will discover their first opponents of the 2024/25 Premier League season when the fixtures are announced at 9am on Tuesday, June 18. The opening weekend of the new campaign kicks off on Saturday, August 17.
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