Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell has outlined his desire to "win the big trophies" with the West London club, but only if they can show the "consistency" required to keep up with Manchester City and Liverpool.
The former Leicester man missed the majority of last season after suffering a knee ligament injury in the 4-0 thrashing of Juventus in the Champions League in October 2021.
He only featured in 13 games in the 2021/22 campaign, with Spaniard Marcos Alonso filling in as his deputy as Chelsea failed to win the Premier League, Champions League or either of the domestic cups.
But Chilwell has now turned his attentions to next season, and believes that lifting silverware is well within Chelsea's reach.
Chilwell told the Athletic: "This is Chelsea, we want to win the big trophies.
"We’ve got a strong team. Hopefully we can add to that strength with some good players.
"We’ve got a great manager. New ownership. Great training ground. Good backroom staff. So everything’s in place.
"It’s up to us now to work hard and motivate each other to make that happen."
While Chelsea were the closest challengers to the top two in the Premier League as they finished third, they were a significant 18 points behind second-placed Liverpool.
And Chilwell understands that him and his teammates need to improve if they want to close the gap.
Chilwell added: "Manchester City and Liverpool have set the bar, for maybe the last five years, which every other team in the league is aspiring to get at.
"We showed in patches last season that we could compete with them, but it’s that consistency that they’ve shown.
"They’re not just one-season wonders, they’ve done it season-in, season-out for the last five years. That’s where we’re trying to get to."
Chelsea's underperformance at times last season, as well as their ownership issues, led to some speculation over manager Thomas Tuchel's future, but the 25-year-old left-back was full of praise for his German boss.
"We know we’re not going to get a better manager here," Chilwell explained.
"I’m not just saying it. He’s an unbelievable manager in all aspects and he has a lot of trust in us as well.
"Everything that could have potentially been tricky last season has all been resolved so it’s up to us to work and try to get that consistency on the pitch."
Chelsea's Premier League campaign begins on August 6, when they will face former player and manager Frank Lampard's Everton.
Will Erling Haaland break the Premier League single-season goals record?
Erling Haaland has done rather well for Manchester City since arriving.
Fine, that may be something of an understatement. The 22-year-old has filled his boots and then some since he moved to the Etihad Stadium from Borussia Dortmund last year.
Haaland has 42 goals in 37 games for City, with 28 of those coming in 26 Premier League appearances.
Pundits will say they had their tongues firmly embedded in their cheeks when some suggested the Norwegian might find English football trickier to conquer despite his domination of the Austrian and German top-flights, but few could have anticipated such a relentless flow of goals.
Those doubts appeared after Haaland's blank against Liverpool in the Community Shield defeat in his first official outing for the club, while he also failed to score in City's 1-0 loss at Anfield two and a half months later.
He did find the net against Liverpool in their EFL Cup fourth-round win in December though, and should he be fit to take the field against Jurgen Klopp's men on Saturday, Haaland will be hoping to get closer to a record that many thought would never be broken.
With 11 games remaining, Haaland is just seven short of claiming the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season, with Andrew Cole in 1993-94 for Newcastle United and Alan Shearer for Blackburn Rovers a year later both managing 34, albeit in campaigns that lasted 42 games.
Haaland is just four behind Mohamed Salah's record for a 38-game Premier League season, set in 2017-18.
So perhaps the question is not 'will he break the record?' but 'when?'
Haaland has missed just one league game so far, and the injury that caused him to pull out of Norway's Euro 2024 qualifiers did not sound particularly serious, so even if he does miss the visit of Liverpool, he still has plenty of time to find the necessary goals.
After all, he scored eight in his last two games before the international break, hitting five against RB Leipzig in the Champions League before another treble against Burnley in the FA Cup.
As they fight Arsenal for the league title, City's remaining fixtures see them face Liverpool (h), Southampton (a), Leicester City (h), Arsenal (h), Fulham (a), West Ham (h), Leeds United (h), Everton (a), Chelsea (h), Brentford (a) and Brighton and Hove Albion (a).
With the leaky defences of Liverpool, Saints and Leicester this season, it would not be a complete shock if he has already reached the magic number of 35 by the time he lines up against Arsenal for a crucial title clash.
In the corresponding fixtures against those 11 opponents, Haaland scored 10 goals (two against West Ham, Leeds and Brighton, one against Southampton, Fulham, Arsenal and Everton, zero against Liverpool, Chelsea and Brentford and he did not play at Leicester), so even repeating his efforts against them will be more than enough.
With 28 goals in 26 league games, Haaland is averaging 1.1 goals per game. That means if he can play in each of City's remaining games, he should reach 40 by the season's end.
That could be asking a bit too much from him, especially considering City also have a Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich coming up, and head coach Pep Guardiola has been known to rest his stars for league games once that competition gets to the latter stages.
Continuing the rate though – assuming he continues to play and the re-arranged game at Brighton is not scheduled beforehand – would see him break the record against Leeds on May 7, appropriately a former club of his father.
While reaching 40 might be beyond him – emphasis on "might" – finding the seven required to overtake Cole and Shearer actually seems borderline routine for a player who has produced the numbers he has.
In just the Premier League, Haaland has four hat-tricks, as many as the rest of the league combined (Phil Foden, Son Heung-min, Leandro Trossard and Ivan Toney all on one).
He also doesn't have to worry about opportunities being created for him by his immensely talented City team-mates, having had 43 Opta-defined "big chances" – a chance from which a player would be expected to score – 15 more than the player with the next most (Toney).
Haaland's shot conversion rate of 31.1 per cent is also well above any other player to score at least six goals in the Premier League this season, ahead of Brighton duo Kaoru Mitoma and Pascal Gross (both 26.1 per cent).
He averages a goal every 75.6 minutes, comfortably ahead of Newcastle's Alexander Isak (103.8), Tottenham's Harry Kane (119.3), Leeds' Rodrigo Moreno (123.1) and Liverpool's Roberto Firmino (129).
Former Newcastle and Manchester United striker Cole recently told Stats Perform it "doesn't bother" him if Haaland breaks his record.
"I've said to people it doesn't bother me in the slightest, I don't care. If someone deserved to break that record, go ahead and do it," he said.
"I don't care if he does it. I'll be the first one to congratulate him. Records are there to be broken."
It looks like a record that will indeed go soon, and it may be the first of many that the irrepressible striker shatters.
'Nobody is perfect' – Pioli insists Napoli not 'unbeatable' ahead of Champions League showdown
Stefano Pioli insisted "nobody is perfect or unbeatable" as Milan prepare to overthrow Napoli in the all-Italian Champions League quarter-final clash.
Milan and Napoli will meet for the first time in European competition on April 12 in the first leg at San Siro, with Luciano Spalletti's side flying high in Serie A and UEFA's top club competition.
The Partenopei are 19 points clear at the Italian top-flight summit and suggested by many as a potential challenger for the European crown.
But Milan have only lost one of their nine all-Italian showdowns in Europe (W4 D4) and Pioli sees no reason why the Rossoneri cannot dream of progressing past Spalletti's in-form side.
The Milan coach said: "Honestly, I'd rather not meet an Italian side. In the Champions League it's better to face a foreign club. Napoli are very strong but we want to play for it.
"They have shown great consistency, strength and quality, they have all the characteristics of a great team, but nobody is perfect or unbeatable."
Pioli's side have not reached the last eight in the Champions League since the 2011-12 term when they were eliminated by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
Milan last went beyond that stage in the 2006-07 season en route to lifting the trophy but overcoming Napoli will prove an incredibly difficult challenge.
Napoli have won each of their past three away matches against the Rossoneri, their best such run against them, although they have not triumphed in any of their past five trips to Milan in cup competitions.
Pioli wants to build on Milan's Champions League history but says the Rossoneri cannot take their eyes off the Serie A top-four battle, leading fifth-placed Roma by just a point.
"It's part of the history of this club and the path it has always followed," he added. "We are beginning to write our history, that of Milan in the Champions League is a different path from ours.
"When you go to San Siro to play the Champions League it is something exciting and spectacular that involves everyone.
"We are very busy but we are also focusing on the league. To make this season a positive one, we have to play in the Champions League next year. We have to be careful."
Before the mouthwatering European meeting, Milan visit Napoli in Serie A on Sunday with the Rossoneri's Scudetto soon seemingly heading for Naples.
Pioli's side have been unable to replicate their exploits from last season's title-winning campaign, though the Italian suggested Milan's young side would always struggle to defend their title.
"I don't think there are many teams in Europe that immediately win the second league," he continued. "We won with a very young team, thanks to a project and a club path we are proud of.
"We are one of the few clubs with a sustainable project; only a few teams manage to win and be competitive in Europe.
"That is a leap that we have not yet been able to make but this year too gives us the opportunity to understand great things, to improve and be the strongest club."
Bayern Munich always favourites against Borussia Dortmund, claims Goretzka
Bayern Munich will always be favourites to beat Borussia Dortmund, with Leon Goretzka suggesting no team can face Die Roten at Allianz Arena and have the upper hand.
The two teams meet in their first game back from the international break in what could be the most decisive encounter of the Bundesliga title race this season.
Dortmund hold a one-point lead over their rivals, who dismissed coach Julian Nagelsmann and replaced him with former Black and Yellow boss Thomas Tuchel last week.
Speaking ahead of the crunch clash though, Goretzka insisted the visitors' advantage in the league table means nothing when they go to Allianz Arena, given the hosts' pedigree.
"We are ready," he told SportBILD. "We want the 11th championship in a row. To quote Kylian Mbappe, we are always favourites.
"When we play at home, there isn't a team we don't go into the game against as favourites. I think [the pressure] is great.
"I really enjoy these games. As a player, you don't want to be part of the team that can break this series [and miss out on another title win]."
Nagelsmann's departure, despite guiding Bayern to the title last term and the Champions League quarter-finals this year, is a gamble for the Bavarian giants.
But in Tuchel, they have a former Champions League-winning coach from his time at Chelsea, and Goretzka hopes he can help retain their Bundesliga crown.
"We all know and appreciate his successes," he added. "[We] have great respect for his achievements and experience."
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