Chelsea give clear Club World Cup hint with £100m prize money on the line

Chelsea have jetted out to the United States getting ready to play in the inaugural Club World Cup and Enzo Maresca’s men are eager to capture the trophy that offers a game-changing prize fund of £100m

Chelsea are hoping the Club World Cup will provide a £100m ticket to glory. The Blues go into the 32 team tournament in the United States having won the trophy in its previous format back in 2022.

That was under former owner Roman Abramovich when the club enjoyed a glorious time of major trophies and big stars.

Chelsea’s current joint owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have gone in a different direction with young players to build slowly but with strong foundations.

They have tried to recruit Europe’s best young talent and also the most skilful players from around the world to signal long-term success.

But the prize money on offer in the Club World Cup this summer – £97m for the winners in a total pool of £775m – would be a game-changer for a team like Chelsea.

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They have already recruited Mike Penders, Mamadou Sarr, Dario Essugo and Liam Delap and put them straight into their 28 man squad for the Club World Cup. That has meant they have left Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix at home while Wesley Fofana will also remain at Stamford Bridge to carry on his rehabilitation from injury.

But while Chelsea remain committed to their long-term strategy of young players, they also know that winning the biggest trophies will help recruit more stars and also help pay for them.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca guided the club into next season’s Champions League and also won the Europa Conference League. That has underlined Chelsea’s faith in their manager and the way he is building for the long-term future and his ability to harness young players. It would also allow them to go big again having spent in excess of £100m each on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.

That is why Chelsea are determined to take their tournament seriously as they prepare to kick off against Los Angeles in Atlanta next Tuesday.

MLS side LAFC contain serial winners in the form of French World Cup heroes Hugo Lloris and striker Olivier Giroud, with the latter set to face his old club in this one. Their other Group games see them face Flamengo and ES Tunis and new signing, Portugal under-21 star Essugo, is relishing the chance to make history.

Essugo agreed an £18.5m deal in March and he arrived in time for the Club World Cup with great memories of watching Chelsea’s glory days under Jose Mourinho and also the Champions League in 2021 when Thomas Tuchel lifted the trophy.

He added: “The first memories I have were from when Mourinho was here in 2015. But the most recent memory is the Champions League final the club won, which fittingly took place in Porto. I remember that well, and generally some of the great players that have played here.

“I want to win as much as possible, as many titles as possible. Obviously, I want to win the Champions League, but also the Premier League because it’s very difficult. I want to win titles, play as much as possible at Chelsea and be part of the club’s history.”

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