Ahead of their fifth season as the custodians of Chelsea Football Club, BlueCo face a potentially make or break summer.
They have overseen the departures of four managers, three of which signed long-term deals before being shown the Stamford Bridge exit.
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The Liam Rosenior tenure, which ended on April 22 after just 106 days, was the latest chapter in the chaotic story of an ownership that have appeared to be all talk, no walk.
Now it’s time for Xabi Alonso to take charge, with the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid boss now at Chelsea, most notably as the manager rather than a head coach.
Having won an unbeaten Bundesliga title with Leverkusen and 71 per cent of his matches at Madrid, the Spaniard has the most success of any appointment made during the BlueCo era.
With no European football in the new season, Alonso will have plenty of time to work with the squad in between Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup fixtures.
But before then, the Chelsea hierarchy have to show that they mean business by supporting their new man in charge in the market, with starting players understood to be high up on the shortlist.
Experience will be key in taking this young team to the next level, and one player who fits the criteria has just had one of his best seasons.
Birmingham and Barcelona bliss
Since expressing his desire for a new challenge away from Manchester United in December 2024, Marcus Rashford has returned to the form that has catapulted his career.
A half-season loan spell at Aston Villa saw him deliver four goals and six assists in 17 appearances, the same amount of goal contributions in seven fewer matches than his run at Old Trafford earlier on.
Rashford informed United of his desire to leave last summer and an exit did in fact follow ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, with Barcelona completing a surprise loan signing.
He took the no. 14 previously worn by the iconic Thierry Henry and, despite a slow start, stamped his mark on the team with three goals and four assists in seven appearances.
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Whilst his minutes and contributions fluctuated throughout most of the season, Rashford played a key role in their LaLiga success.
The last of his eight goals came in the 2-0 home win over arch-rivals Madrid that secured the title, a curling free-kick from just outside the area with fewer than ten minutes played.
Rashford’s form earned him a call-up to the England squad for the World Cup, where he netted their fourth goal in the 4-2 win over Croatia.
However, for a second consecutive summer, his club future remains up in the air, with Barcelona opting not to sign him permanently.
They had the option to buy the 28-year-old for £26million, but this expired on June 15 and as it stands, he will return to United.
Barca are still open to negotiating another deal for Rashford, even if they have already completed the £70m signing of his England co-star Anthony Gordon.
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eSPORTY understands Gordon’s switch from Newcastle United does not rule out a move for Rashford, who has a £40m release clause, though they would favour another loan or signing for a reduced fee.
The World Cup will be his main focus for now but, as always, the new season comes around very quickly and he will need to know where he will be playing.
A return to Barcelona would certainly be appealing, but why not stay in the Premier League and join a club who could very much do with his experience and quality on the wing?
Manchester to London
Rashford defined ‘bursting onto the scene’ when he made his United debut in 2016, scoring two goals in their Europa League victory over FC Midtjylland.
He followed them up with another two strikes and an assist against Arsenal during his Premier League debut, the first of 297 outings in the English top flight thus far.
Across those appearances, he has racked up 89 goals and 53 assists at United and Villa, which equates to a little under 0.5 involvements per match.
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It’s a record that any top side would look at and admire, and Chelsea should be one of those eyeing an opportunity to sign Rashford.
Most of the signings made under BlueCo have been regarded as stars for the future, and another four are arriving this summer.
Denner, Emmanuel Emegha, Geovany Quenda and Dastan Satpayev are heading to west London from Corinthians, sister club Strasbourg, Sporting and FC Kairat respectively.
They are a quartet with high potential but Chelsea must begin to pivot from young to experienced talents, or they will likely fall even further behind their rivals.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have already lost one of their more experienced players in Marc Cucurella, while Enzo Fernandez could be joining him at Real Madrid.
That’s where Rashford comes in – a player with nearly 300 Premier League appearances to his name, a Spanish league title and four World Cup goals across three tournaments.
You only have to go as far back as last summer for transfer business between long-term rivals United and Chelsea when the latter signed Alejandro Garnacho.
However, he netted only one Premier League goal in 24 appearances in his first season and, at 21-years old, most certainly does not have the same longevity as that of Rashford.
The same can be said for Jamie Gittens, who hasn’t played for Chelsea since January 31 due to a hamstring injury but only scored one goal in over 1,000 minutes of football before then.
Garnacho, who could be sold in the summer, signed for £40m and Gittens arrived in a £55m deal, so Rashford looks like a bargain move.
Chelsea would likely face competition though, with Premier League champions Arsenal tipped to be a club who could move for him in the window.
However, Manchester City and Liverpool are said to be blocked from activating his release clause, so that’s two ‘Big Six’ rivals they don’t have to worry about.
Alonso will want to make the best possible start at Chelsea, and there is no better way to help facilitate this than by providing him with top-quality players.
Rashford is one star who would aid this and, if he continues to shine for England at the World Cup, then his signing should be a no-brainer.
