Maresca joined the Blues from Leicester City following the 2023-24 season, replacing former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino.

The London club had a rough start to the campaign under Pochettino but finished strong, ending up in sixth and just outside the Champions League places.

With Pochettino gone, Gallas says the expectation for Maresca in the upcoming season is to get the team back into Europe's top club competition. 

Anything less would be a failure, Gallas told Lord Ping.

"Enzo Maresca did brilliant at Leicester and I know he was Pep [Guardiola]’s assistant - so  Chelsea are clearly copying Arsenal’s model with [Mikel] Arteta

"Maresca is clearly a long-term appointment, but he will not finish top of the Premier League with their current squad. Pochettino finished sixth and he was sacked so the aim for Maresca has to be the top four.

"Maresca has to be given time but we know what Chelsea are like, you never know with them. It looks like they want to work with a manager long-term, so we have to see how this is going to work.

"Definitely, the challenge for Maresca is to get Chelsea to qualify for the Champions League, otherwise he’s a failure."

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