Chelsea are committed to waiting until March at the earliest before allowing their position in the Premier League table to help determine what the club can fight for this season.

Enzo Maresca, the Chelsea head coach, has been quick to dismiss suggestions that his squad could be unexpected title contenders, following an impressive start to the season that has taken his “new kids on the block” level on points with Arsenal and nine points behind leaders Liverpool.

Star player Cole Palmer echoed Maresca’s insistence that Chelsea are not fighting for the title at this point, and their belief is shared inside the club ahead of Wednesday night’s trip to Southampton.

Maresca has boldly reiterated his claim, first publicly expressed at the start of November, that Chelsea can dominate English football in the next five to 10 years. But he and the club still consider his young squad as new kids on the block in comparison to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.

Maresca’s pre-season objective was to help Chelsea improve, while implementing a new style of play, and to keep getting better. Those above him are understood to be delighted by the progress so far.

‘Chelsea in the next five to 10 years can dominate English football’

But there is no sense of anybody getting carried away internally and there is a view that it is pointless to consider what might be achievable at the end of the season before March at the earliest.

“My belief is still what I said to the owners and the sporting directors the first time I met them,” said Maresca. “Because of the age, and because of how good the squad is, for me Chelsea in the next five to 10 years will be one of the teams or the team that is going to dominate English football.

“This is what I said to the club the first time I met them. No matter who will be the manager, for the next five or 10 years, because of the age, the squad, you can dominate English football, and I still think exactly the same.

“In terms of a target, they didn’t ask me for any target, only to try to build something important for the next [few] years. I think we are in the right direction. In terms of a personal target, I know you struggle to believe me but I’m focused on Southampton. I’m not focused about the end of the season, next season, two seasons because it is not real.”

Spring revision?

It remains to be seen whether Maresca and Chelsea would be prepared to consider themselves title contenders if they have maintained or improved on their position in March, given they travel to Arsenal on March 15 and do not entertain Liverpool until May 3.

Chelsea’s good form goes back beyond the start of this season. Since Feb 4, they have lost league games only to Arsenal, Liverpool and City, and the club are fourth in the 2024 calendar-year table, 14 points behind those three clubs, who are tied on 74 points.

That would suggest that Maresca is correct in his assessment that his team are not yet ready to mount a sustained challenge to Arsenal and Liverpool and City – even if the gap to them appears to be decreasing.

Jose Mourinho described Chelsea as “a little horse that still needs milk and to learn how to jump” in the 2013-14 season, in which his team finished third behind City and Liverpool, before winning the title the following season.

Maresca’s Chelsea are very much the ponies of the piece this time around, having fielded the youngest team in the league every week so far. Their youngest side, who averaged 23.3 years old, is more than two years younger than Arsenal’s youngest. Their oldest, which averaged 24.1 years, is more than four years younger than City’s oldest and more than three years younger than Liverpool’s.

City’s experienced players have all won league titles, while Liverpool still have a number of players from their 2020 success. Arsenal have also competed for the title for the past two seasons.

Maresca said: “Arsenal, in the last two years, they were very, very close to City and Liverpool, they have been there. We were not there… we have been very far away from City. Hopefully, soon we can be there.”