Chelsea can follow London rivals Arsenal's blueprint next season with the club looking unlikely to qualify for European football this term. The Blues are currently sat 11th in the Premier League - 10 points adrift of the top seven in the table.
Frank Lampard's side were dumped out of the Champions League after suffering a 4-0 aggregate defeat in their quarter-final tie against Real Madrid. Goals from Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio and a double from Rodrygo across the two games saw Chelsea exit the competition and ultimately end their season.
Premier League leaders Arsenal were without any European football at the Emirates Stadium last season but have gone from strength to strength under Mikel Arteta since finishing narrowly outside of the European spots in 2020/21 campaign. The Gunners now find themselves four points clear at the top of the table as they continue to chase down a first Premier League title since 2004.
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Chelsea have endured a disastrous season which was capped off by their exit from the Champions League earlier this week. Lampard has lost all four matches upon his return to Stamford Bridge following Graham Potter's sacking just six months after he replaced Thomas Tuchel.
As Todd Boehly and Co search for a new permanent manager to take charge at the club ahead of next season, they may look to Arsenal's project under Arteta as a reference to entice an elite manager through the doors at Cobham for the 2023/24 campaign. The Gunners had no European football to play for the first time since 1995-96 in Arteta’s second full campaign as a manager.
The north London outfit finished fifth in the 2021/22 season but were allowed to shine away from the pressure of Champions League football - giving them a platform to build on for the following campaign. This has seen the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard improve drastically and help fire Arsenal towards a Premier League title charge.
Chelsea have already followed the Gunners' example by signing young talents that can be developed into world-class players - but they still need to find a manager that can make it work on the pitch in terms of results. Boehly’s solution of throwing money at any and every issue has not worked out this term after the club's £600million transfer spend to achieve nothing more than one of the worst seasons in Chelsea’s history.
An ever increasing wage bill needs to be addressed which suggests it will be another summer of change at Stamford Bridge. The Blues should look at their London rivals' pathway of culling their more senior players as soon as possible and decide on a specific strategy to lead the club forward.
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