Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca praised the “important” members of the team after returning from injury.
Chelsea liverpool among Liverpool’s choices for Premier League title rival Liverpool
The Blues have endured a rather overwhelming start to their 2025/2026 campaign, and it won’t be easy as Maresca’s side is not ready to host Premier League champions Liverpool this afternoon.
Maresca spent more than £280 million on new employees in the Summer Window, based on the feat of 2024/2025, after winning the Conference League, Club World Cup and last season’s Champions League qualifiers.
Premier League’s biggest summer spender | |||
|---|---|---|---|
team | I spent time | I received it | Net expenditure |
Liverpool | £415,000,000 | £187,000,000 | £228,000,000 |
Chelsea | £285,000,000 | £288,000,000 | – £3,000,000 |
Arsenal | £255,000,000 | £9,000,000 | £246,000,000 |
Newcastle | £250,000,000 | £152,000,000 | £98,000,000 |
Man Utd | £216,000,000 | £68,000,000 | £148,000,000 |
nottm Forest | £205,000,000 | £107,000,000 | £98,000,000 |
Tottenham | £181,000,000 | £36,000,000 | £145,000,000 |
Sunderland | £162,000,000 | £44,000,000 | £118,000,000 |
Man City | £152,000,000 | £53,000,000 | £99,000,000 |
West Ham | £124,000,000 | £55,000,000 | £69,000,000 |
via BBC | |||
However, he was also forced to rely on a roster full of young people, with the starting eleven boasting an average age of 24.1 (BBC), crippling injuries so far.
Once October arrives, Chelsea’s absentee list will include Liam Dellup, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adalavioyo, Dario Essego, Andrei Santos, Trevo Charova and Star Forward Cole Palmer.
Fofana and Tosin are not expected to return until after an international break where the former is receiving concussion protocol, while the former offers one game of suspension after a red card with Brighton last weekend.
Colwill is set to miss most of this season after bursting the ACL in the preseason. Maresca absolutely lost centre-back to make a choice against Liverpool.
Badiasir just returned from injury and was impressed by the Frenchman as he began his first match of the season with Jose Mourinho’s 1-0 Champions League victory against Benfica on Tuesday.
Reports suggest that Chelsea insiders pushed Badiaseal’s behind the scenes as a capable agent to come backstage and play a key role despite being linked to last summer’s travel.
Amidst Chelsea’s serious defence shortage, the 24-year-old’s presence now looks more crucial than ever, with Badiaseal refusing to move in the final window and declaring his love for the West Londoners.
“The club, the coaches and all the staff give me a lot of confidence and believe in me. I will do everything to respond to them on the pitch,” Badiaseal told Foot Mercato in July.
“I love the club, the city, the supporters, and I hope that we can make more history with this epic club.”
The loyalty of the former Monaco star has been repaid by Maresca, who praised Badiaseal at a pre-Liverpool press conference.
Enzo Maresca praises Benoit Badiaser’s return as “good news” for Chelsea
Speaking to the reporters, Chelsea boss confirmed that Badiaseal was in fact a “significant” player to them, and that his return to the fold was “good news” ahead of a challenging showdown against the English champions.
“Ever since I joined the club, every time I talked about Benoit, I always said he was an important player and a very good player,” Maresca said.
“Unfortunately, he’s been injured a few times since I joined the club, but before the last one he played almost every game at the Club World Cup, then injured against Benfica.
“He’s back now. That’s good news for us, his teammates, especially him, because when you’re out for so long, it’s always a shame.”
Unfortunately for Badiaseal, his position in the starting eleven is under long-term threat.
According to reports, Chelsea and Maresca agree that the star centre-back signature will take “priority” in January.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will contact Mark Guech’s camp this week and are thought to be able to try and re-sign the Crystal Palace star in the winter at a cut price fee.
