Are Chelsea back?

Chelsea defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 last weekend, with Cole Palmer scoring all four of the Blues’ goals in the first half of the match. They are now fourth in the Premier League and it looks like Enzo Maresca has finally taken the club back to where they belong.

There has been a lot of turmoil at Chelsea since the BlueCo consortium, led by Todd Boehly, took charge of the club in 2022. They have had six different managers and spent more than £1 billion on transfers. Despite huge investment in their squad, they have had disappointing finishes of 12th and then sixth in the last two Premier League seasons.

The decision to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season did not please the club’s fans. However, Maresca – who won the league with Leicester City last campaign – is showing signs that he could be the man to take the Blues back to their former glories.

Chelsea have won the Premier League five times but are unlikely to challenge Manchester City for the title this year. City have already shown they are still well ahead of Chelsea by beating them 2-0 on the opening weekend of this season’s Premier League. Maresca’s team should at least aim to finish in the top four.

The best deal Chelsea have done since Boehly has been at the club was signing Palmer for £40m. In 53 games for the club, he scored 31 goals and provided 19 assists. This season in the Premier League he has scored six times in six games. Only Erling Haaland, with 10, has scored more goals in the division this campaign.

Palmer arrived at Chelsea from Manchester City, where he was not getting as much game time as he would have liked under Pep Guardiola. The Spanish coach is not known for making mistakes. However, he must be wondering why he decided to let Palmer leave for a rival.

Chelsea have had some legendary players over the years, such as John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard. Palmer already has the same number of Premier League hat-tricks as Drogba and Lampard. If Palmer can continue the form he is in, he will become as respected as those names.