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Do Chelsea Really NEED This Many Players
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Jul 11, 2025
From summer 2022 to summer 2024, Chelsea have spent over £1 billion on transfers! So is it any surprise they find themselves with a 43 man squad? With new signings Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro joining the club, coach Enzo Maresca has a big problem on his hands of how to keep everyone happy and how to cut his squad down to size.
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0:00
I have never seen anything quite like it
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Chelsea Football Club have enough players to form a country, a functioning one, with a bench and a B team
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and a decent chance of qualifying for the World Cup. Papa Pink is here with 442. Let's talk about it
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Since Todd Bowley took over Chelsea in May 2022, the club has chucked money about like Monopoly notes
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Only this is real, and Stamford Bridge is the board. From summer 2022 to summer 2024, Chelsea have spent over a billion quid on transfers
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To put that into context, that's more than the GDP of some small nations
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More than Arsene Wenger spent across two decades at Arsenal, and it's the highest net spending in Europe over that period comfortably
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But guess what? They ain't stopping. Let me read you their squad. Georgi Petrovic, Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen
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It can't go on like this, can it? It can't. Armando Broya, Mark Gouy and David Datro for Fana
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That's 43 players. 43! That's not a squad. That's a census. That's not depth
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That's a population crisis. and they are still not done. Jamie Gittins and Joao Pedro are on their way to West London
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Of course they are, because when you've already got 16 wingers and 13 strikers
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the one thing you clearly need is more wingers and more strikers
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Now, let's try and make some sense of it. If we assume Enzo, Caicedo and Palmer are locked into
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that midfield and half space, as they should be by the way, then who's the ideal front three ahead
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If I'm setting up Chelsea's attack right now, I'm going Baino Gittens and Pedro Neto on the wings
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and Liam De Lape through the middle, rotating with João Pedro, depending on the game state
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And let me break down why You got Gittens on either side who is explosive vertical chalk on his boots I think Gittins has been brought in to hold the width and pin the full deep
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It's not just about flair on the flank, it's tactical warfare. That one move stretches the defensive line and cracks open the game for the players inside
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All of a sudden, Enzo and Palmer have space between the lines
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The centre-backs being pulled towards the touchline. The full-backs glued to Gittins
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and in between, gaps, half spaces, passing lanes. It gives Enzo more time on the ball, Palmer more pockets to operate in
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and it invites those underlapping runs from full-backs or midfielders. And I think that's exactly how Mareska wants to hurt teams through manipulation, not chaos
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And Gittins, by just standing wide and demanding attention, becomes the spark that makes it all possible
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And on the opposite side, Neto, he operates as an inverting winger
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He wants to drift inside, combine and attack the half's face. That contrast is so key
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One gives you raw width, the other gives you sharp diags and final third craft
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Now picture those two running either side of the lap, who doesn't need to be flashy, just functional
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He presses, makes selfless runs and occupies both centre-backs. Like Gittins, his presence, it pins defenders, which gives Neto more room to come inside and Gittins more space to isolate one-on-one
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Maresca wants positional discipline, quick passing triangles and higher pressing, and this trio actually fits
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You've got verticality, pressing, intensity, 1v1 threat, and most importantly, off-the-ball intelligence
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All three are willing runners. All three can rotate mid-game. And none of them clog the same zones
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which has been Chelsea's biggest problem when they try to cram flair players into the same 20 yards of space
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And then there's the other new man, João Pedro, £60 million from Brighton
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I think that's a superb signing, by the way. This bloke offers something completely different Pedro all about control patience and intelligence Think of him as more of a false nine not just a striker waiting on service
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but also a creator who drops deep, pulls defenders out of position
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His ability to read the game and find those half spaces adds a subtle but such a crucial dimension to the attack
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When the game is stretched, you bring Gittins or Neto to push wide and rip it open
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When it's tight, Pedro can unlock defences with his movement, clever passing
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But here's the real question. Do they really need this many attackers
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The short answer, probably not. The long answer, maybe. If they're genuinely planning to go deep in the Champions League and compete on four fronts
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They did just win the Conference League and to their credit, they did it by rotating almost an entire 11 every Thursday night
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So maybe this is the model. Maybe Maresca builds a midweek team and a weekend team, fully interchangeable, like a footballing hydra
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But the fact of the matter is, this isn't football manager. You can't keep 43 players happy, rotate them all in, and expect everyone to run smoothly
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Real-life football isn't career mode, where everyone gets minutes and morale stays high
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Managing that many egos, keeping players sharp, and building proper team chemistry
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That's a whole other level of challenge. And while they're stockpiling attackers, like Pokemon cards
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what about the goalkeeper situation? The goalkeeper is your last line of defence
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The guy who needs to inspire confidence throughout the team. And I think Sanchez sometimes struggles with that
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Look at the best teams. Real Madrid with Courtois. Liverpool with Alisson
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Arsenal with Raya. These keepers do more than just save shots. They lead, organise and start attacks
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Chelsea need that. But judging by Maresca's quotes, it doesn't seem like anything will be changing
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He said, and I quote, the keeper situation is simple. Robert is number one
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Philippe is number two. And we will yse and judge Penders. My nan and different players at other clubs I don think it is worth talking about them Now look if Chelsea are going to make this whole thing sustainable outgoings have to be a part of the equation You can just
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keep hoarding players like it's a car boot clearance sale. At some point, people need to leave
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One name that's trending at the moment, Nani Maduweke, linked with a move to Arsenal. That's
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not a small rumour, by the way. Arsenal are reportedly in advanced talks. It's no secret
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Mikel Arteta is in the market for a winger who can play on both flanks. Madeweke ticks that box
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Look, despite the outrage from 99% of Arsenal fans, honestly, I get it. Madeweke has the talent
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He's got that slinky left foot. Unpredictability in those 1v1s. And when he's on it, he's electric
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We do have to bear in mind, though, Maduweke is not Arteta's first choice. That is, of course, Rodrigo, we think
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But one to keep an eye on for sure. So many Chelsea players have been told to leave in recent windows
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that it's genuinely become difficult for clubs, agents, even fans to know what any individual departure actually means
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Are they being sold because they're not good enough or because there's literally no space left
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You've got Champions League-level talents, Chabasic winners, for God's sake. Look at Ben Chilwell being pushed out
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simply because there are too many bodies there. Joao Felix, another one
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I mean, why? Why did they sign him? Is he not good enough? Or is there not enough space
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If I'm United, if I'm Spurs, if I'm Arsenal, I'm taking a Joao Felix any day of the week
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25 years old, we know he's got bags of ability. And people forget, this guy cost £113 million
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when Atletico signed him. There's a reason for that. You don't lose that quality overnight
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And maybe he's just been stuck in the wrong ecosystems with gaffers who either don't trust him or don't know how to unlock him
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And now Chelsea, in the middle of their Super Squad era, seem to have no time for him either
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Look, I think this season is a massive season for Chelsea. How do you think Maresca is going to deal with this squad
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Let us know in the comments below. That's all for now. See you next week
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