Premier League 2026-27 preview No 6: Chelsea

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 3rd (NB: this is not necessarily Billy Munday’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 10th

Prospects

After a season of struggle and regression, with two head coaches and two spells under a caretaker, there is cautious optimism that this campaign will bring something like stability. Much of that optimism centres around the appointment of Xabi Alonso, an elite manager with something to prove. There is also an expectation that the young players brought in as part of BlueCo’s £1.8bn splurge in recent years are beginning to come into their best years. There is no European football to complicate the schedule and a return to the Champions League by finishing in the top four or five would suffice for now. More importance will be placed on the domestic cups after a season without trophies.

Alonso’s squad is more rounded than what Enzo Maresca or Liam Rosenior had at their disposal. Maxence Lacroix and Morgan Rogers bring quality to positions where Chelsea were lacking it – at centre-back and out wide. Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson – the “uncs” as Tosin Adarabioyo has called them – will contribute as much off the pitch as on it. The signing of Marco Palestra, a specialist wing-back, suggests Alonso wants to be tactically flexible. He has used a back four and a back three in pre-season.

What about Cole Palmer? For so much of his time at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s form has been tied to his. When he has struggled to be 100% fit, the team have suffered too. After being omitted from England’s World Cup squad, Palmer had a seven-week break and sought advice from a specialist on the groin injury that hampered him last season. “I got bored after six weeks,” Palmer said after returning for pre-season. “I was sat in Marbella thinking: ‘I want to go back in.’” With the prospect of linking up with Rogers and João Pedro, who has also had a good rest, Palmer has plenty of reasons to be excited.

Off-field picture

July ended with Chelsea being fined £10m and receiving a suspended transfer ban over multiple violations of transfer rules under the ownership of Roman Abramovich. An appeal from the club saved them from a six-point deduction. Chelsea were deemed compliant with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules for the three-year period ending in 2025 despite posting an English record £262.4m pre-tax loss for the 2024-25 season. They have not been cowed by failure to qualify for Europe and have spent over £300m on new signings. For the fourth year in a row, Chelsea look likely to start the season without a front-of-shirt sponsor.

Owner-fan relationship

Supporter protests against the ownership of Todd Boehly’s BlueCo have been a frequent sight on matchdays, including before May’s FA Cup final defeat by Manchester City. There have been reservations about the club’s youth-oriented transfer policy from the start and last season’s failings prompted the co-owner Behdad Eghbali to admit the need “to add more ready-made players” to the squad. Whether fans were expecting the arrivals of Welbeck and Henderson is another question. The introduction of a ticket ballot system for home games has also been unpopular with regular match-going supporters.

The manager

It was a bit of a coup for Chelsea to secure Alonso’s services this summer, especially given the Liverpool job was available. The Spaniard has a reputation to rebuild after his dream job at Real Madrid ended in the sack after six months. “I got a scar, now it is healed,” he said. Alonso’s record of developing young players, such as Florian Wirtz, at Bayer Leverkusen while simultaneously delivering silverware is a match made in heaven for the Chelsea hierarchy. One detail to note: Alonso has been appointed as manager, rather than head coach like his predecessors. He has also brought in Austin MacPhee, Aston Villa’s set-piece guru.

Star signing

Chelsea went one better than Manchester City’s £116m signing of Elliot Anderson by bringing in Rogers, who had been linked with Arsenal, for a new British record fee of £117m. Although he started England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina on the right wing, Rogers has thrived for Aston Villa playing largely off the left and should slot in there nicely at Chelsea. The 24-year-old has proved himself in the Premier League and his best-buddy relationship with his former Manchester City youth teammate Palmer is a major plus. “I can see them linking really well,” Alonso said.

Stat attack

Has anyone checked Chelsea haven’t built a squad of Benjamin Buttons? The average age of their starting XI has decreased over the past three seasons when they were already the youngest team in Premier League history. You can see why they signed Henderson and Welbeck.

Set for a breakthrough

Robert Sánchez is still Chelsea’s No 1 but he may face serious competition this season from the 21-year-old Mike Penders. The goalkeeper, who was third-choice for Belgium at the World Cup, was signed from Genk in 2024 and spent last season on loan at Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The comparisons with Thibaut Courtois, who Chelsea signed from Genk at a similar age, are obvious. Like Courtois, Penders is 6ft 7in and therefore has a massive reach, but he also earns plaudits for his passing. Chances will come in cup competitions, but the clamour for Penders to be first choice might become hard to ignore.

World Cup impact

Enzo Fernández had a rollercoaster of a World Cup. Chelsea’s vice-captain popped up with crucial late goals for Argentina in the knockout stages, including a winning header against Egypt and the equaliser against England. But the abiding memory was his part in Argentina’s unsavoury approach in the final against Spain, where he received one yellow card for dissent and another for sending Pau Cubarsí flying. Real Madrid said in July they had “no intention” of pursuing a move that Fernández seemed to covet earlier this year when he said he would “love” to live in Madrid – comments that earned him a two-game ban under Rosenior. How about living in Manchester? City have been linked.

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.