The 28 Chelsea players staying behind this summer for Enzo Maresca's first pre-season as boss

Enzo Maresca will now be getting his plans in place for pre-season after confirmation of his appointment as Chelsea head-coach finally arrived on Monday afternoon. The Italian replaces Mauricio Pochettino in the Stamford Bridge hotseat, signing a five-year contract with the club holding an option to extend his tenure by a further year.

Making an immediate impact in his only season as Leicester City boss as he guided the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, the 44-year-old will be hoping that his time in west London proves to be very successful indeed. Chelsea will be looking to build on finishing the 2023/24 season in sixth, with the club desperate to get back to challenging at the top on a regular basis.

Key to a fast start to the new term will be a strong pre-season at the club's Cobham training base. It is set to be a very busy summer for Maresca and Co. with five friendlies in the United States on the calendar ahead of the Premier League kicking off.

Maresca is certainly looking forward to working with his players from the start of July and made that point clear after signing on the dotted line at Stamford Bridge. Speaking to the club's official website about becoming boss, he said: "To join Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world, is a dream for any coach. It is why I am so excited by this opportunity.

"I look forward to working with a very talented group of players and staff to develop a team that continues the club’s tradition of success and makes our fans proud.”

So who exactly will Maresca have to work with at Cobham come the beginning of July? football.london takes a look below.

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The summer of 2024 will see a handful of Chelsea players return to pre-season training at various times due to Euro 2024 and the Copa America taking place in June and July. In terms of the Euros, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer are strong contenders to be in Gareth Southgate's final England squad, Marc Cucurella is in the provisional Spain party, Mykhailo Mudryk will represent Ukraine, Djordje Petrovic is part of Serbia's plans and the same goes for loan duo Armando Broja and Romelu Lukaku who will be representing Albania and Belgium respectively.

Enzo Fernandez will very likely be in Argentina's final squad for the Copa America and likewise for Moises Caicedo of Ecuador. A number of Chelsea players have missed out on representing their respective nations this summer, thus meaning Maresca has a healthy amount of stars to work with from the beginning of July.

Notable names include Reece James and Ben Chilwell after injury-hit seasons put an end to their England chances, with the same going for French ace Christopher Nkunku. Malo Gusto was perhaps very unlucky to miss out on the France squad and will instead be at Cobham for the start of pre-season training.

The summer will also hopefully provide Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana an opportunity to get their Chelsea careers firmly up and running after a torrid time through injury. Loan players such as Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ian Maatsen and Omari Hutchinson will also be back in the capital unless permanent transfers are finalised ahead of the pre-season start date.

Lewis Hall and Hakim Ziyech are another two players who spent the 2023/24 season away from the club and their loan deals to Newcastle United and Galatasaray respectively look set to become permanent. Midfielder Lesly Ugochukwu is part of the France squad for the Olympics but the fact that the games don't commence until late July would suggest that the Chelsea man starts pre-season with the rest of his Blues teammates.

Players set to start pre-season at Cobham

Goalkeepers: Robert Sanchez, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli, Jamie Cumming, Gaga Slonina.

Defenders: Reece James, Malo Gusto, Alfie Gilchrist, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Ian Maatsen.

Midfielders: Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos.

Attackers: Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Deivid Washington, Omari Hutchinson, David Fofana, Angelo Gabriel.

And those will be away

Copa America: Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo.

Euro 2024: Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella, Mykhailo Mudryk, Djordje Petrovic, Armando Broja, Romelu Lukaku.