Chelsea get £210m transfer greenlight to complete four deals this week in Enzo Maresca dream

The 2025 summer transfer window is open. Silly season is upon us. Prepare for three months of speculation, rumours, noise, links, and unfathomable brain rot.

It is always an important period for clubs but this summer feels bigger than usual for Chelsea.

Enzo Maresca will be the first manager in five years to start back-to-back seasons in charge. He has the full support of those above him at Chelsea, even if there remain questions over his coaching.

For now, most can agree that he met expectations and ultimately ended up doing a good job. He has never had a second season as a senior boss, though, and will be looking to improve as well.

. They were left short in attack and midfield throughout the 2024/25 campaign despite spending over £220million last summer.

A window of that quality simply cannot be repeated. Joao Felix and Renato Veiga have already left the club on loan whilst Filip Jorgensen arrived but did not offer much of a challenge as the No.1 goalkeeper. Both Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho had their moments on the wing but neither were undroppable or demanding of their spot with total authority.

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The best value for money business was Tosin Adarabioyo whilst Marc Guiu came in from Barcelona at just £5million. He showed signs of life in the Conference League but was rarely trusted.

Ultimately, with Conor Gallagher and Thiago Silva leaving, it left Chelsea in a weaker spot than they had ended under Mauricio Pochettino. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall cost £30million and was less than a bit-part player.

. In some areas they have already taken steps to do just this.

Dario Essugo and Estevao Willian have both been signed and will join up over the summer from Palmeiras and Sporting CP (via Las Palmas) respectively. Returning loanees Djordje Petrovic and Andrey Santos also look set to bolster Maresca's group.

The attention is still on what new players will be signed. Now that clubs are free to complete transfers for a 10-day period ahead of the Club World Cup, Chelsea are not expected to mess around.

Chelsea have until June 10 to finalise any deals they want to do ahead of the first match on June 16 - now confirmed to be against Los Angeles FC (LAFC). The window will then close again briefly before opening properly.

What this allows is for Chelsea to get down to action. They have been laying the groundwork for multiple transfers since January (and before, as was the case with Liam Delap). He is likely to be the first new signing.

Delap could play at some point during the Club World Cup but it does clash with the Under-21 European Championship, which he wants to participate in for England.

Champions League qualification has played a big part in Chelsea moving ahead of a long line of others for Delap. They will hope the same goes for others as well.

Chelsea are in the market for a new centre-back with interest in Marc Guehi. There are more options in defence as well but Guehi only has 12 months left on his contract at Crystal Palace. Newcastle United are long-term admirers and came close to spending £65million on Cobham graduate last year.

The other priority is for a winger to come in. Chelsea eyed up Jamie Gittens, Nico Williams, and Alejandro Garnacho in January but nothing got over the line. All three are in their sights again now with deals for between £40million and £55million being on the cards.

Then there is the question of whether another striker joins along with Delap. whilst Viktor Gyokeres (available at closer to £60million) is also on the market. Victor Osimhen would attract the highest wages from Napoli but would be open to a move for a similar price.

If Chelsea were to add a big centre-back as well as winger and two strikers, the total spend would quickly leap to around £210million. That will partially be offset by sales (of which many are once more set to follow) and

Now that the window is open, things will move fast for Chelsea. They could easily exceed the spending from last summer but getting it right is the bigger task.