BREAKING NEWS ✅✅: James returns, Dewsbury-Hall makes his debut, and Santos starts—Enzo Maresca fields his strongest Chelsea lineup against Wrexham.
We are now less than a week away from Enzo Maresca’s debut as Chelsea head coach. The Blues are set to travel to the United States for their 2024 pre-season tour, which will feature five matches.
The tour begins with a clash against League One side Wrexham in Santa Clara on Thursday, July 25 (3am BST). Following that, Chelsea will face Celtic, Club America, Manchester City, and Real Madrid across the US. The final pre-season friendly is scheduled against Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, August 11, one week before their Premier League opener against Manchester City.
Currently, Maresca is working with a significant portion of his first-team players at their Cobham training base as he looks to make an immediate impact. However, key players like Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella, Conor Gallagher, and Cole Palmer are absent due to their participation in summer international tournaments.
These four players are expected to miss most of the pre-season as they take a break after a busy 2023/24 season. Additionally, it is uncertain when Moises Caicedo will rejoin the team, as Ecuador’s Copa America campaign ended earlier this month with their quarter-final loss to Argentina.
Maresca has the option to field a very strong Chelsea lineup for their pre-season opener against Wrexham. However, he might choose to rotate his squad to assess his players in a match setting for the first time.
As the situation stands, football.london examines what Maresca’s strongest Chelsea team might look like for the match at Levi’s Stadium.