Bellingham and Thuram sign, Enzo sold - Chelsea predicted XI for 1st 25/26 match

03/22/2025 06:00 AM

Chelsea could be set to continue splashing the cash with deals for Marcus Thuram and Jobe Bellingham, as the stumbling Blues look overhaul their side this summer.

Chelsea were surprise competitors for the Premier League title at the start of this season, but a Christmas collapse condemned them to battling for Champions League qualification as Enzo Maresca went from managerial signing of the season to next on the chopping block, and now finds himself in a bit of a purgatory, with his future in West London lacking clarity.

Whilst unlikely to be fired, next season might be the last-chance for the Italian to prove himself at Stamford Bridge, under the fickle ownership of Todd Boehly and Co.

As if the uncertainty in the dugout wasn’t enough, figuring out who’s actually going to be in the squad for the Blues, let alone play, is a tough task.

Kendry Paez and Estevao Willian are already coming in as yet more exciting young talents, and uncertainty between the sticks is keeping Chelsea fans up at night. Meanwhile, Enzo Fernandez is being tempted towards Real Madrid Mick Brown has told Football Insider exclusively, and the temptation of joining the best side to ever do it in Europe is a hard urge to resist.

With a summer of change on the horizon, next season promises a lot for Maresca’s side (if it remains his side, that is), and the manager will have plenty of talent to work with.

Here’s how Football Insider predicts Chelsea will line up for their first match of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

Jobe Bellingham to replace Jadon Sancho while Marcus Thuram joins from Inter Milan

Mike Penders

There aren’t often many goalkeeping wonderkids floating around, but Penders definitely is one of the few. The six foot seven inch Belgian shot-stopper was signed last summer, but is spending the rest of this year at his boyhood club Genk before joining up with the Blues. The “new Thibaut Courtois” will have a free shot at claiming the number one spot, thanks to some howlers from Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen, and if ever there was a player to fill the void left by the departure of Courtois in 2018, it’s the man dubbed his successor.

Reece James

The right-back slot is a weird one currently, Wesley Fofana has returned from injury and is being used here whilst Maresca toys with the unpopular idea of James as a centre-mid. Fun idea, but let’s put one of the best right-backs in the world…at right-back. The duo are both frustratingly injury prone and would likely rotate with one another next season, but when fit, James remains a no-brainer here for most.

Murillo would be the perfect foil to Levi Colwill

Murillo

Pete O’Rourke exclusively revealed to Football Insider that Chelsea’s interest in Murillo will not go away. With that in mind, it seems like a match made in heaven. Happy harassing opposition attackers until they give up the ball, then marauding up the pitch and smashing a laser-beam towards goal from miles out, Murillo would be following in the footsteps of Alex and David Luiz as fan-favourite Brazilian defenders at Stamford Bridge. The perfect signing to pair with the composed Levi Colwill. Meanwhile Axel Disasi is on loan at Aston Villa and Benoit Badiashile’s future is similarly uncertain.

Levi Colwill

Speaking of the young defender, this year’s been a tricky one. A rotating cast of defensive partners for the 22-year-old has left him looking a little unsure of himself. But with Murillo crunching into tackles alongside him, Colwill will undoubtedly get back to his best, with a lot still expected of the man dubbed the “new John Terry”.

Marc Cucurella

It looked like Brighton had fleeced Chelsea when Cucurella joined for £60million [BBC Sport], but the floppy-haired Spaniard has proved everyone wrong, as Ben Chilwell’s status has fallen away before a loan to Crystal Palace. Five goals in all competitions is a career best season for the former Barcelona man, he’s nailed down the left-back role as his own and wont be giving it up any time soon.

Moises Caicedo

Another signing from Brighton that has taken a while to really find his feet. But find his feet he has. The Ecuadorian has proven himself to be the perfect foil to a more offensively minded box-to-box midfielder, winning tackles, loose balls, and Blue hearts. The all-action centre-mid is as good as they come right now.

Jobe Bellingham replaces a Real Madrid bound Enzo Fernandez

Jobe Bellingham

Pete O’Rourke exclusively told Football Insiderthe price Chelsea will have to pay for Bellingham, and £20million looks like a steal. He’s not his brother, but forget about Jude. Jobe brings determination, and flair to the Blues’ midfield. Watch him play for Sunderland and you see a leader, someone who makes things tick and keeps the crowd on-side. At only 19-years-old he’s destined to be “the one that got away”, for whichever side misses out on signing him. Losing Fernandez to Real Madrid would be a major blow, but the Sunderland man is ready to fill that void and make an instant impact.

Estevao Willian

Estevao is the single hottest name in Brazilian football right now, smashing all of Neymar’s youth records, and Brazil’s top dogs aren’t scared of putting his name alongside some of the all-time greats. Estevao won the Brazilian Serie A at 16-years-old, and made his debut for the Selecao at 17-years-old, so Chelsea look to have pulled of some coup securing his signature well ahead of time. Absurdly talented, ghosts past defenders, but has been kicked about enough to fear no one. He’s ready to take the Premier League by storm, and Cole Palmer is gonna have a lot of fun alongside this graduate from the school of joga bonito.

Cole Palmer

His form has petered out a little as the season nears its end, but he can be excused, given he has been tasked with carrying an entire football club on his back, and had done so spectacularly for 18 months. Illness and injury are slowing him down, but a summer off, and a new striker to ping inch-perfect passes to will breathe new life into the young-man ready to claim the crown as the Premier League’s best player.

Pedro Neto

This was often Jadon Sancho’s role, but, he’s really failed to impress since a hot start, and Chelsea are willing to pay a penalty fee to send him back to Manchester United, as reported by The i. So now it’s time for another double-threat, like the right-back role. The former Wolves man has proven over the last four seasons that his body just wont let him play every game, which is fine. The Portuguese winger will have Kendry Paez and Noni Madueke backing him up. In his second season at Stamford Bridge, Neto is ready to star, with a strong supporting cast backing him up.

Marcus Thuram

The worst part of Chelsea’s season? Goalkeepers. A really close second? Watching Palmer torture defenders, turn them around, inside out, upside-down, play the perfect pass and…it gets rifled into the side netting by one of Nicolas Jackson, or the increasingly-hapless Christopher Nkunku. That’s why Chelsea are now in a race with Arsenal and Liverpool for Thuram, Pete O’Rourke exclusively told Football Insider, and if the other two clubs end up fighting over Alexander Isak the Blues could take full advantage. The son of Lillian and brother of Juventus star Khephren, Inter’s striker is ready to move out of the shadows of Lautaro Martinez and own the spotlight at Stamford Bridge. Thuram loves to play up-front on his own, and comes with the pedigree of being a proven goalscorer, giving Palmer just the man he needs upfront.

Would Chelsea really be willing to part ways with Enzo Fernandez? If the offer is right, maybe it’s time to invest in a young English star in Jobe Bellingham. The Blues need a difference maker and he can be exactly that. With these additions, and a few more wonderkid’s set to join, then Maresca could be the first manager to win the Premier League for Chelsea since Antonio Conte. From one Italian, to another.

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