PSG-Chelsea: The Blues' costly reconstruction takes shape at the Club World Cup

A return to the spotlight after a long hiatus. Four years after triumphing on the European stage, Chelsea Football Club finds itself in a position to win a title, Sunday, July 13 at 3 p.m. (9 p.m. Paris time), on the occasion of the Club World Cup final, at the MetLife Stadium (New Jersey), where it will face Paris Saint-Germain.

The London team owes its presence in the United States, in this first 32-team Club World Cup, to its 2021 Champions League victory . Since this European title, Chelsea has been noted above all for its instability. Between dizzying investments, erratic management and constant squad restructuring, the Blues resemble above all an open-air construction site, despite some recent signs of consolidation.

In recent years, the Londoners have suffered a series of setbacks. Third in the English league and quarter-finalists in the Champions League in 2022, they fell sharply the following year, finishing twelfth in the Premier League. Their 2023-2024 season, without participating in European competitions, ended with a tentative resurgence: sixth in the domestic league. This gradual decline has paradoxically been accompanied by a gigantic inflation of spending: more than €1.3 billion has been injected into the transfer market since May 2022 and the club's acquisition by the BlueCo consortium, led by American businessman Todd Boehly, making Chelsea the biggest-spending club in Europe.

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