Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has been left seriously impressed by the depth of Chelsea’s squad this season.

Head coach Enzo Maresca has a huge array of talent at his disposal and, speaking to a Blues fan on The Overlap, Carragher said:

“I watched a game the other week, it was Bournemouth, the players you were bringing on, I don’t know if that’ll be a problem later on but it was like Felix coming on, Neto coming on, Sancho, wow.”

Based on the quality of the squad and the club’s start under Maresca, Carragher now sees Champions League qualification as a realistic possibility:

“I didn’t have Chelsea anywhere near top 4 or think they could challenge but now looks like I think you could.”

It’s a swift U-turn from Carragher

Just over a month ago, the former Liverpool defender hit out at Chelsea for their recruitment policy, criticising them for signing too many players and leaving their manager with a bloated squad.

Now, Carragher is saying their squad depth could help them secure a top 4 finish. It does go to show that pundits can be very fickle.

Where are Chelsea in the Premier League table?

Heading into their fixture against Brighton on Saturday afternoon, the Blues are in fifth place, just three points off Manchester City in top spot.

In terms of their direct competitors for Champions League qualification, Aston Villa are two points ahead in 3rd place, Newcastle are level with them in 6th, while Tottenham (10th) and Manchester United (11th) are a further three points behind.

Of course, Maresca still has plenty of work to do to make this team play consistently well but, as we pointed out in an article earlier this week, all the stats suggest the Italian is moving in the right direction.

Find out who is in Chelsea’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here