Managing Chelsea – Pre-season priority, £103m transfer arrivals, Nicolas Jackson decision

Chelsea are one win away from FIFA Club World Cup glory, needing to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the final on Sunday.

The Blues have worked tirelessly to reach the position they currently find themselves in. Only one club will emerge as the victors, however, and receive the full prize money, which stands close to £100m.

Taking part in the tournament has meant Chelsea have been forced to act swiftly in the summer transfer market. Before the tournament they got deals over the line for Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr, and whilst out in the United States more have been finalised with the additions of Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens.

The club’s total spend now sits at £210m and there is still time to add to it.

The Club World Cup is also set to have an impact on how Enzo Maresca and Co. travel into next season as it will be a rapid turnaround.

Here, football.london takes a look at some of the decisions that could be made by Chelsea as the Club World Cup ends and the new season starts, all whilst the summer transfer window remains active.

Pre-season

Nobody can question that Chelsea’s players and coaching staff deserve a long rest for their efforts over the past year.

They began the 2024/25 campaign on August 18, 2024, and by the time their Club World Cup final against PSG concludes it will be almost 11 months ago to the date.

The tough reality of the situation is that they won’t get a long break. Another five weeks away is the opening match of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign, at home to Crystal Palace.

In those weeks the task must be to keep players active but allow them the space to refresh.

Calling them warm-up matches is bizarre in the sense that the Blues will have barely cooled down, but it will be interesting to see how the players adjust for friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen (August 8) and AC Milan (August 10) before competitive action kicks off again.

£103m-worth of arrivals

New blood is one way to help refresh the Chelsea ranks looking towards the new season. They are set to get this through Estevao Willian’s long-anticipated arrival.

The 18-year-old’s move from Palmeiras was finalised over one year ago – £29m potentially rising to £55m.

Fans were given an indicator as to why the club paid that amount so long ago as the attacker netted against Maresca’s side in the recent quarter-final tie at the Club World Cup.

As Palmeiras ducked out at that stage, Estevao has been afforded a marginally longer rest period and enter his new squad with talent and energy in abundance.

The same can be said of Jamie Gittens, who was recruited from Borussia Dortmund for £48.5m midway through the tournament in the United States. He has been ineligible to make his debut because of being cup-tied.

So the 20-year-old will also be able to join having had that few extra days’ rest before the new season begins.

Nicolas Jackson decision

One of the more troubling aspects of the Club World Cup has been striker Nicolas Jackson.

His sending-off in the second group stage fixture vs Flamengo earned him a two-game suspension. He was also shown a straight red card in the third-from-last Premier League of last season at Newcastle United and was suspended for the final two domestic matches of the season and will sit out the season opener vs Palace.

But the wider view is that Maresca has a disciplinary problem on his hands – and it either needs ironing out or the club need to make a difficult transfer decision this summer.

For now, Chelsea don’t see the need to take such drastic measures and the only decision needing to be taken is where Jackson fits in the new pecking order.

New arrivals Delap and Pedro have both scored at the Club World Cup, unlike the Senegal international, so he will need to make the most of future opportunities to prove his value in this side.