Palmer and beefed-up Blues eye return to title frame

Aggressive, motivated, talented and now champions of the world, Chelsea have confidence and real depth

- Jacob Steinberg

When Chelsea won the Conference League in May, secured by the standard ice-cold Cole Palmer performance in a final, the reaction was restrained and there was no internal talk of an impending title challenge. Now the vibe is different. It is hard not to dream when Chelsea perform as they did against Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup.

Chelsea know they are not the finished article. Yet there is a gold badge on the shirt for the next four years and if Chelsea woke up feeling $100m yesterday morning it will not only have been because of the prize money made in the US.

Where does this end? Chelsea have built priceless momentum and will head into the new season with serious aspirations of winning the Premier League and going far in the Champions League. They are youthful, aggressive, motivated and extremely talented. They are champions of the world, an achievement that should not be played down. They were the second-youngest side at the Club World Cup and have benefited from treating it seriously. They have grown as a team, honing their tactical vision and hardening their mentality, and it has done wonders for Enzo Maresca's standing as head coach after a challenging first year.

Maresca wobbled during a difficult spell after Christmas and has not found it easy to convince fans to embrace his patient, positional football. But he clearly has total buy-in from the squad. "He is building something special," Palmer said after leading the destruction of PSG with two goals and an assist for Joao Pedro before half-time. "He's a top coach," Malo Gusto said before the final.