London, Dec 3 (AP) Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca believes the club has the platform to "dominate' English soccer in the coming years.
Maresca on Tuesday repeated his assertion that Chelsea shouldn't be deemed a contender in the Premier League title race, even though his team is third in the standings and tied on points with second-placed Arsenal. They are nine points behind Liverpool.
However, the Italian coach was more bullish about Chelsea's long-term prospects.
"The good thing is, I still think what I said to the owners and the sporting director the first time I met them," said Maresca, who joined Chelsea in June.
"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 — 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."
Chelsea has spent well over USD 1 billion on around 40 players in an unprecedented and at times chaotic spree across five transfer windows since a consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the Premier League club from its long-time owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, for USD 3.2 billion in May 2022.
Many of the signings are young, such as 23-year-olds Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, and 22-year-old Cole Palmer.
Maresca is the fourth different full-time manager in the new regime, and the first to get consistent performances out of the expensively assembled group of players.
Chelsea has won seven of its 13 Premier League games and lost just two of them — to defending champion Manchester City before its unlikely freefall, and Liverpool.
Maresca still thinks Chelsea shouldn't be put in the same category as Liverpool and Arsenal just yet, denying it is just a ploy to take the pressure off his players.
"They (Arsenal) have been there the last two years, very close to City, and we were very far to City," Maresca said, when asked why Chelsea shouldn't have the same expectations as Arsenal.
"To be in the title race is nice pressure for me and the players. It's not the kind of pressure that you don't like. It's the kind of pressure you like because you are in the title race. But that's not our case.
"Hopefully soon we can be there."
Chelsea visits last-placed Southampton on Wednesday, while Arsenal is at home to Manchester United, and Liverpool is away to Newcastle. AP SSC
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