Enzo Maresca makes bold Chelsea prediction which will worry Liverpool and Man City

Former Leicester City manager and Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has boldly predicted that the Blues are primed to dominate English football in the coming decade, thanks to a years-long campaign of targeted player recruitment.

Since the takeover by Clearlake Capital in May 2022, only three first-team players from that era remain at Stamford Bridge, with the club investing over £1 billion into creating a squad that boasts the youngest average age in the Premier League.

The radical rebuild was initially met with scepticism as the former Champions League winners experienced a dip in form, culminating in a disappointing 12th place finish – an outcome co-owner Todd Boehly branded "embarrassing". However, under Maresca's leadership, and building on the foundations laid by Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea has seen a resurgence.

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They now occupy third in the table, neck-and-neck with previous season’s runner-ups Arsenal.

Maresca remains firm in his initial vision for the club: "I still think what I said to the owners and sporting directors the first time I met them," he remarked. This unwavering belief is rooted in the young talent present within the squad, leading him to assert, "Because of the age and how good the squad is, Chelsea in the next five to 10 years will be one of the teams – or the team – that is going to dominate English football."

He concluded with certainty: "That’s what I said the first time I met them, no matter who will be the manager. Because of the age and because of the squad, you can dominate English football. I still think exactly the same."

Chelsea, sitting nine points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, matched Arsenal's 25-point tally after a decisive victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, with Manchester City trailing by two points in fifth. The club's decision-makers, co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stuart, have faced criticism for overhauling an experienced squad with youthful talent.

Now, only Reece James, Ben Chilwell, and third-choice keeper Marcus Bettinelli remain from the previous season, with James being the mainstay in terms of playing time.

Manager Maresca shared, "They (the owners) didn’t set me any targets," and elaborated on the club's long-term vision: "The one thing they ask me is to try to build for the next years something important. We are in the right direction."

Maresca, focused on incremental progress, added, "Personal targets, I know from outside you struggle to believe, but I just want to see how the team can improve. I’m not focussed about end of the season, next season, two seasons, because it’s not real."

His winning mindset, honed in Serie A and cemented by guiding Leicester back to the Premier League post-relegation, was a key factor in Chelsea's managerial hiring process.

"Juventus shaped me a lot in terms of winning mentality, first of all because I had two managers there, one was (Marcelo) Lippi the other was (Carlo) Ancelotti. They are winners."

"The squad in that time was a winner squad. You can smell day by day the desire to win games and trophies."

"I try to do this in teams I was in in the past, even (Manchester) City U23. It was the first time they won the title (under Maresca), then Leicester was the same, probably it was the most difficult one because after relegation the mood is a disaster from everyone."