Chelsea lift the Club World Cup. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

The Athletic share Chelsea’s expectations for next season following Club World Cup success

Originally posted on Chelsea News | By Charlie Patrick | Last updated Jul 18, 2025 2:15 AM ET

The only expectation for Chelsea next season is to qualify for the Champions League through a top four or five finish in the league according to The Athletic.

Chelsea’s players are finally enjoying a well earned break after a long and successful season which ended in Club World Cup glory.

Last season also saw Enzo Maresca guide Chelsea back to the Champions League, and win the Conference League.

Chelsea expectations next season

Despite only just finishing last season, attention will already be on next season, and the Blues have been busy this summer.

The squad has been strengthened by the arrivals of Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens, whilst Estevao has finally joined, and Andrey Santos has also returned from a successful loan at Strasbourg.

Chelsea are expected to add more new faces, and another attacker is a possibility, whilst they are also said to be in the market for a left sided defender.

The Blues are slowly getting themselves together and on the way back to where they should be, and there will be an expectation to improve once again next season.

A domestic trophy would be great given Chelsea last lifted one back in 2018, and The Athletic have reported the only expectation next season is to qualify for the Champions League via a top four or five finish.

The report adds the Blues are expected to go on good runs in the cup competitions, including the Champions League.

Maresca not under pressure to deliver Premier League title

Winning trophies is brilliant, but a lot of Chelsea fans would love to see the club lift the league title again, given that’s not happened since 2017 under Antonio Conte.

John Terry doesn’t believe Chelsea are ready to win the title yet, but there are certainly signs of improvement in this young team.

It’s been reported Maresca isn’t under immediate pressure to win the title, as there’s an understanding there’s still work to be done to close the gap to the teams above, and it will be interesting to see how close Chelsea get next season.

This article first appeared on Chelsea News and was syndicated with permission.

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