As far as debuts go, Sunday afternoon could not be much more of a tricky one for Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea get their 2024/25 Premier League season underway at Stamford Bridge with reigning champions Manchester City on their way to SW6. Maresca will come up against Pep Guardiola, the man whom he worked under during his days at the Etihad Stadium.
The Blues, heading into the game, have a lot of players to choose from and ultimately trim down to make a 20-man squad. As well as this, there could well be one transfer made before the Friday 12pm cut-off point. Although at this moment in time, that does seem unlikely.
Chelsea are still in talks with Atletico Madrid over the possibility of re-signing Joao Felix, football.london understands. The 24-year-old is keen on a return to Stamford Bridge after spending the second half of the 2022/23 season on loan there but Chelsea and Atleti are still negotiating a price they can both agree on.
If an agreement was to be reached soon and Chelsea could rush Felix for a medical, then there is every chance he could be involved in some part against Man City. However, the Blues will need to be very quick.
One man that will certainly be involved in some part is new signing Pedro Neto. Whether or not he will start; that is a different story given those competing with him had more of a pre-season under their belt.
For the goalkeeper spot, Chelsea realistically need two options on Sunday. They almost pick themselves at this point. Djordje Petrovic does not seem to be part of Maresca’s plans for the upcoming season, so Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen could be the two picks.
In defence, Reece James is suspended. Malo Gusto will surely start at right-back with Marc Cucurella on the other side. Given the amount of players Chelsea have and there needing to be a 20-man squad, we could see Ben Chilwell miss out against Man City completely. Likewise with Axel Disasi, who did not play once for the Blues in pre-season.
Carney Chukwuemeka may well miss out of the squad as well. The 20-year-old played in the first two pre-season matches of the summer but was then pushed to one side for the remainder. With Chelsea’s riches when it comes to attacking options, there could be only four natural central midfielders in the squad.
Some of the attackers, though, can play in midfield. Christopher Nkunku, for example, was experimented as an attacking No.8 during the tour of the United States.
Despite a really promising pre-season, we await to see what the plans for Marc Guiu are. The 18-year-old striker will have trouble getting into match day squads unless the Blues were to trim their attacking options down a bit more. However, if Chelsea were not to sign Felix (at all or in time for the match on Sunday) then there will surely be a place in the 20-man group for Guiu.
Dream Chelsea 20-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Sanchez, Jorgensen
Defenders: Gusto, Colwill, Badiashile, Fofana, Cucurella, Tosin
Midfielders: Fernandez, Caicedo, Lavia, Dewsbury-Hall
Attackers: Palmer, Felix*, Neto, Nkunku, Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke, Jackson
*If he is signed by Friday 12pm.
