Chelsea Q&A: Will Club World Cup help or hinder upcoming season?

In the final part of Tuesday's Q&A with our Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella, he looks at the potential impact the Club World Cup campaign - which extended the Blues' season by several weeks - might have on 2025-26.

Matt asked: Do you think Chelsea will suffer for this involvement in the Club World Cup early in the new season?

Nizaar: That is very difficult to say. Chelsea have been mostly bullish having brilliantly handled the heat, travel and long season to win the Club World Cup.

It is certainly on people's radars but the approach to handling it is to give players a proper three-week holiday, despite it massively eating into pre-season. It is up to Chelsea to negotiate the first few weeks of the campaign when rivals might be sharper, fitter and stronger.

I sensed a small bit of concern in Enzo Maresca the last time he was asked about this.

Guerin asked: Do you think Chelsea can challenge for the Premier League and/or the Champions League next season?

Nizaar: There remains a major question mark about whether Chelsea can cope with the rigours of the Champions League alongside Premier League commitments - especially without a full pre-season.

In terms of the best starting XI, the Blues can give any team in world football a game and beat them – as shown by the 3-0 win over Paris St-Germain.

My concern is over a potential situation when injuries hit and there is a difficult run of two or three fixtures, and maybe one or two are struggling for form. In that scenario, could they continue to win games consistently?

Is the floor of the squad - with players like Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Filip Jorgensen and Tyrique George - good enough to help lift the team when the going gets tough?

That is my main and only worry about this group.