London, Aug 16 (IANS): Chelsea will be looking to put the memories of the horrid 2023/24 season behind them as the side struggled to maintain a spot in the top 10 of the table. A late run saw them finish sixth in the table but Manchester United’s FA Cup victory shoved them out of the Europa League to the Conference League.

The side has yet another transfer window with a flurry of signings and the team is now ready for Maresca’s first competitive match for Chelsea. The Italian managers addressed the reporters in a pre-game press conference on Friday.

"Sometimes it sounds like an excuse because every manager is talking about timing. In our case, because of the process, I am 100% sure that this team is getting better game after game, and with timing, we are going to close the gap,” said Maresca to reporters.

The West London club will be thankful to the fixture list for the season as they may face defending champions Manchester City in their opening game but will not face another side from the traditional top six until October 19 when the side will play Liverpool.

Conor Gallagher’s five-day trip to Madrid saw him complete all formalities barring the signing of a contract at Atletico Madrid but had to return to London after the move stalled.

Gallagher was asked to return to London immediately and is back in training with Chelsea as talks are still ongoing. However, Enzo Maresca confirmed that we will not get to see the midfielder in action against City as ‘He’s trying to find a solution with the club.’

"Conor is back, he is training at this moment apart, he’s doing some medical tests and some training and he won’t be involved in this game. He’s trying to find a solution with the club. Unfortunately, these kinds of things happen every summer. All the clubs during the summer have some problems. In the end, you finish with all of them happy, so hopefully, Conor’s situation will finish with everyone happy," he added.