What’s going on at Chelsea?

After just one game of the 2024/25 Premier League season, many Chelsea fans are already feeling frustrated.

It's not the opening day defeat to Manchester City that's causing frustration - few expected Chelsea to upset the reigning Premier League champions. Rather, it's the ongoing management of the club, which feels almost like a video game under owner Todd Boehly, that's sparking discontent.

The American owner has continued his spending spree this summer, adding ten more players to an already bloated squad. In just two years, he has brought in a total of 39 new players, costing the club a staggering £1.15 billion.

The latest addition is Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid, who appears to have been signed primarily to facilitate the sale of Chelsea academy product Connor Gallagher. Both Atletico and Barcelona seemed unimpressed with Felix during his time at their clubs, and his loan spell at Chelsea last year was also underwhelming.

It's unclear what Chelsea aims to accomplish with this move. Despite having an abundance of attacking talent, the club continues to spend money recklessly.

With the addition of Felix, Chelsea now has an astonishing 54 senior players under contract. Eight of those are out on loan, leaving 46 others who are reporting to training at Cobham. 46 players!

How do you train as one group with that many players? You don’t.

“You like to say we have 42-43 players, but more than 15 players are apart from the team,” said Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca in recent press conference. “I am working with about 25. It’s not a mess like it looks from the outside.”

You’re wrong, Enzo. It now looks like an even bigger mess.

With the core players training as one group and everyone else separated, what impact must this have on team morale? It’s likely that some of the main group are close friends with those excluded from the manager's plans. This situation will surely lead to a rift and potentially a serious revolt within the squad.

In fact, it's no surprise that trouble has already emerged in the squad. Raheem Sterling, who was Todd Boehly's first signing as owner, was left out of the squad for the match against Manchester City, his former club.

Ahead of the match, Sterling's representatives released a statement on the winger's behalf which read: "Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea Football Club for the next three years. He returned to England two weeks early to conduct individual training, and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.

"He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard, and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity. As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with, and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation. Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season positively."

At 29, Raheem Sterling would be wise to escape the chaos at Chelsea FC, but his recent statement was perplexing. While it’s understandable that he feels aggrieved by being trained separately from the core group, he doesn’t have an automatic right to a starting spot. Since his near £50 million move from Manchester City two years ago, he hasn’t lived up to expectations.

This situation highlights the problematic culture created under Todd Boehly’s ownership.

Sterling’s high wages of £325k a week likely make it difficult for any club to afford both his transfer fee and salary. With three years remaining on his contract, it’s unlikely a club will take him on, potentially leaving him sidelined for the foreseeable future.

He isn’t the only player in this situation; there are others on long contracts who have been deemed surplus to requirements, leading to a growing number of disgruntled players within the squad.

It’s easy to sympathise with Maresca in this situation, but he willingly chose to join Chelsea’s tumultuous environment. No one forced him to leave a Leicester City team he had just guided back to the Premier League. Now, he must navigate the challenges and scrutiny that come with Boehly’s management style.

Publicly admitting that at least 15 players are training away from the core group is madness. Does Maresca truly believe this is the right approach for a football club? Probably not, but as he’s well-compensated by Boehly, he has little choice but to go along with it.

Maresca faces a monumental task to return Chelsea to the top four and secure Champions League football. Given the current issues at the club, achieving that would be nothing short of a miracle, as there appears to be no clear direction.

The solution seems straightforward: stop acquiring players indiscriminately and focus on building a cohesive club identity. Boehly appears to think he’s discovered a new formula for success, but stockpiling players hasn’t been a proven strategy for any other club. Only he can explain why he believes this approach will work, though even he might be searching for answers.