Chelsea preseason schedule: When are Blues in action to warmup for new Premier League 2024/25 campaign?

Yet another new dawn is on the horizon at Chelsea following Mauricio Pochettino's decision to leave Stamford Bridge by mutual consent after just one year in charge, with former Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca now in the home dugout at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino ended 2023/24 on a high note but the season was otherwise disappointing for the Blues. Chelsea finished the Premier League season in sixth place and, besides a semifinal exit in the FA Cup, they were runner-up to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Since the arrival of owners Clearlake and Todd Boehly, the Blues have been the main players in the transfer window, and it doesn't appear that this summer will be any different. By the time the start of the new campaign rolls around, Chelsea's squad could look plenty different from 2023/24.

The Chelsea squad features an enormous amount of young talent that was thrown into the fire last season.

"In my experience, I went through quite a few managers in my time, and you always saw a reaction," former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill exclusively told The Sporting News ahead of their preseason fixtures in the United States, including the FC Series match against Real Madrid in Charlotte. "You always saw the players that might have thought they were a bit out of sight with the old manager, all of a sudden everyone's on a level playing field, so you certainly saw a reaction."

"This is a time for players to really get in front of the new manager and impress. Every one of them in preseason wants to start for Chelsea, so this is a time as a player to make an impression...These are big moments, especially for the young players, to make sure they're involved in this season and this journey in the Chelsea squad."

"This is a key time for the manager as well, to get to know the players, and likewise the players to know the manager, and to really work on the training ground to stamp down the way he wants to start the season."

Over the next few weeks, they will fine-tune their preparations with a series of warmup fixtures. Here's their full schedule:

All the latest EPL club news | Team-by-team Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings

Chelsea preseason schedule of matches

The football offseason is characteristically brief, and players will hopefully have cherished their short time off before jumping back into the swing of things on the pitch.

"International players at these levels don't get much time off," Cahill told The Sporting News. "It's two or three weeks off and then you're back in. In terms of fitness, they just need sharpening a little bit. To play in a fixture against Real Madrid in a sold-out stadium is a buzz, so certainly that's a game you'd look forward to as a player."

Games against Champions League caliber opponents such as Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Inter dot the schedule for the Blues, meaning players will need to ramp up quick if they hope to put in a quality performance and earn minutes in competitive matches to come.