Chelsea can ´dominate English football´ for a decade, says Maresca

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca believes the make-up of the Blues’ squad gives them an opportunity to dominate English football for the next five to 10 years.

Maresca’s Stamford Bridge tenure has got off to an excellent start, with Chelsea sitting third in the Premier League – albeit nine points behind leaders Liverpool – ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Southampton.

The Italian has won 38 of his last 59 league games in charge of Chelsea and former club Leicester City overall (eight draws, 13 losses).

Since the beginning of last season, no manager has won more such matches across England’s top two tiers (level with Leeds United’s Daniel Farke – excluding play-offs).

The likes of Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson have starred for a young Chelsea side this campaign. Indeed, the 13 youngest starting XI’s to be selected in the Premier League through 13 matchdays this term have all been by Chelsea.

Having spent heavily on the recruitment of young talent in just over two years under the Todd Boehly regime, Maresca feels Chelsea are destined for big things.

“What I said to the owners and the sporting directors the first time I met them, 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,” he said.

“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. 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 years. I think we are [heading] in the right direction.”

The Opta supercomputer gave Chelsea just a 0.2% chance of winning the title before a ball was kicked this term, but their hopes are now marginally up at 0.6%.

Maresca still feels this season is too early for his team to mount a title tilt, adding: “In terms of a personal target, I know you struggle to believe it but I’m not focused on [the] end of the season, next season, because it’s not real.”