Chelsea's Club World Cup win doesn't necessarily mean they're strong. That's not proof of their strength, but I think we should also look at the overall performance since Maresca took over. There's been so much positive progress, so I'm not just judging by the final result, but by their long journey. I think Chelsea now deserves to be among the teams competing for the Premier League title next season.
You may not use the Club World Cup to rate Chelsea but what you should know is that any team that can conquer teams that doesn't play in same league with them can be automatically considered as a very strong team because they met teams from different leagues. Apart from the Club World Cup, Chelsea won the conference league title, came out of the top 4 position so with only this two achievements is enough to say that Chelsea will be title contenders next season because the have the strength and their team work is making a lot of sense. The title race next season will be so competitive since we now have 4 teams that are strongly prepared namely: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. We should be looking forward to a hot season because teams like Arsenal may not reach 2nd in the table again because am seeing the competition more between Manchester City and Chelsea.
Next season's EPL will be even more exciting because almost all the big teams are making significant changes and bringing in new players to add depth to their squads. Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool will all undoubtedly be contenders for the EPL title next season.
We can safely say that these four teams will be more consistent next season, given their squads. However, with the sheer number of matches they face next season, the coach's role is crucial in rotating players to maintain fitness. Player fitness undoubtedly impacts a team's consistency in winning. The team that stands out the most in recent changes is Chelsea, not only because they won the Club World Cup trophy, but also because their game under Maresca has become more compact and solid across all lines.