Sonia Bompastor's words to Sky Sports ahead of the new WSL season carry weight precisely because they avoid hyperbole.
Chelsea are going through a transitional moment and it takes time for the club to rebuild.It is a statement that acknowledges reality rather than dodges it, and one that frames the enormous task ahead.
The Blues have endured significant upheaval in recent years. Bompastor arrived to replace Emma Hayes in 2023, a transition that was always going to be scrutinised. Then came the shock departure of Paul Green as head of women's football in February, removing another architect of Chelsea's dominance. Alongside Hayes, Green had overseen years of unprecedented success—a standard that is notoriously difficult to sustain and even harder to replicate.
Yet Bompastor managed to keep the momentum going in her first season, delivering an unbeaten domestic treble. Some observers suggested Hayes' influence still lingered in that achievement. Her second campaign, however, exposed the new realities. Chelsea were not the team of old, and a fresh era was unmistakably beckoning.
Now in her third pre-season with the club, Bompastor has expressed confidence that she possesses the backing required to navigate this transformation.
I think now I understand what the club is about a lot more,she reflected.
I also understand what we want to achieve and bringing my input into that. It's good to be in a place where I feel the confidence and the trust coming from the hierarchy in the club. As much as I know my job, we need to get good results in order for me to stay as long as possible, but it's also important to feel like we also have time to rebuild the team in order for us to compete against the best.
Bompastor's contract was extended through 2030 in February 2026, a clear signal of the club's long-term commitment to her vision.
Learning from last season's disappointment
Chelsea's 2025-26 campaign delivered only the League Cup, with the club finishing third in the WSL behind Manchester City and Arsenal. It marked the first time in six years they had failed to claim the domestic title—a stark departure from their recent history.
Bompastor has been candid about the lessons drawn from that campaign.
We wanted last season to be a more successful season because Chelsea is a club who is used to winning. We only won one trophy, but if you analyse it, we have some good learnings to take and that's really important for us to reflect on.
The manager has identified culture and standards as central to the rebuild.
We spoke a lot about the environment and the culture we want to create here at Chelsea. It's a lot about standards, behaviours, how you show up every day, how much you are committing to work hard to achieve your goals and what are the type of behaviours you want to show up every day, off and on pitch.
Who do we want to be as a team? How do we want people to talk about Chelsea? These things are really important for us to be able to achieve the goals we have. Chelsea are a club who are used to winning and we need to make sure we put everything together in order for us to achieve that.
I'm quite happy with the squad of players I have, the quality we have, but it's also important alongside that quality to bring the right mentality.
Recruitment strategy balances experience with youth
This summer has carried the unmistakable feel of a fresh start, particularly in terms of playing personnel. Several players who defined Chelsea's recent era have departed. Former captain Millie Bright retired, legendary goalscorer Sam Kerr moved to the USA, while Niamh Charles, Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd also left the club. Together, they represented decades of service, invaluable experience and numerous trophies.
We lost some really important players in terms of the environment and culture,Bompastor said.
Some of them had been here for many years and it's difficult to replace them. So it's for us, the staff and club, to think about how and what is the best way to replace them. It's about the recruitment, but also again linked back to the environment and the culture we want to create.
We have also great leaders who have the right mentality about when you are on pitch, it's about winning games. Off the pitch, it's about the behaviours you need and showing up every day in order for us to work hard on the pitch to achieve the goals.
Chelsea's transfer strategy exemplifies the blend of seasoned talent and emerging potential. Katie McCabe, the experienced Arsenal defender, arrived to provide leadership and defensive solidity. Bompastor was clear about McCabe's immediate impact.
She has already started to impact the squad in terms of the behaviours and the standards. I'm really pleased she's a Chelsea player now.
Nelly Las represents the other side of the equation. The 18-year-old prospect joined from Leicester and made 16 WSL appearances across the last two seasons, while also featuring for England's youth teams. Chelsea have also signed Giulia Dragoni, Melvine Malard, and Manaka Matsukubo this summer, further strengthening the squad's depth and versatility.
It's important to have the right balance between experienced players, but also the youth into the squad,Bompastor explained.
Players having versatility to play in different positions is also really important for me. I'm a manager who really loves to work with young players, to invest time to develop them and I'm really keen to bring these players into the squad and see how they can develop to contribute to the success we will have in the future.
Carrying forward a winning legacy
The pressure to win at Chelsea remains constant given the club's storied history. The challenge now is to maintain that legacy while simultaneously forging a new identity and upholding the standards Bompastor has established. Much of that responsibility falls to the squad's senior players, regardless of tenure at the club.
Defender Ellie Carpenter, despite having joined only last summer, has already emerged as a key figure. As a multiple-trophy winner and regular starter, she is likely to step into an expanded leadership role within the group.
Chelsea are going through a bit of a transition phase at the moment. A lot of legends have gone and they left such a great legacy,she told Sky Sports.
Now it's our turn to do that, follow in their footsteps and to build on what Chelsea is as a club. As a footballer, you love those opportunities and moments in your career and it's a perfect time to be stepping into that role for this club.
Our aim this season is to fight for those trophies back and show what Chelsea is about. We want to do it as a team, winning in that way and enjoying it and hopefully getting the results on the way as well. We have a great team this season and pre-season has felt good so I'm excited.
The Champions League remains the ultimate prize
One way this squad can cement itself into Chelsea folklore is by claiming the one trophy that has eluded the club—the Women's Champions League. For years, the Blues' recruitment strategy has been deliberately calibrated towards European glory, with domestic honours viewed as natural byproducts of that ambition.
Bompastor's appointment in 2024 was partly rooted in her success in this competition. She won the Champions League as manager with Lyon. Carpenter was part of that victorious squad, as was new striker Melvine Malard and defender Kadeisha Buchanan. Katie McCabe won it with Arsenal. Lucy Bronze, who signed a new Chelsea deal this summer, has been crowned European champion five times.
Yet none of those triumphs came in Chelsea blue, and the question resurfaces annually: will this finally be the year the wait ends?
Winning the Champions League is one of the main goals for us,Bompastor said.
We'll work as hard as possible to achieve that and I know everyone is expecting Chelsea to always be at their best. But the competition now in Europe is getting higher and higher. Many clubs now are in a position where they can compete to win the Champions League. I don't want to shy away from us and our ambitions, but I also know it's difficult. But that's the one trophy we're missing in the club and we will try as hard as possible to fight for that.
It's always what Chelsea want,Carpenter added.
It's what their ambition is, what the fans want, what everyone here wants and what we work towards every day. This squad is young, but multiple people have won it in the team, so that helps a lot to bring the experience and what it takes to win. But we're just going to go game-by-game this season. We don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves. When we're enjoying football, we're playing our best football.
According to ESPN, Bompastor has a "refreshed squad" after last season's quarter-final exit in the Women's Champions League. The club will not enter the league phase automatically and must qualify through the third qualifying round, beginning with a home fixture against Real Sociedad.
Embracing the scrutiny
The annual discussion about Chelsea's Champions League prospects may seem repetitive, but it reflects the kind of scrutiny that comes with being at the club. That pressure is unlikely to diminish regardless of structural changes elsewhere, and it represents one of the key learnings Bompastor must instil in her squad.
I've never been in a place before where the scrutiny is so high like at Chelsea, but I'm comfortable with it,she reflected.
It means people care about us and really think we are a really important club. That's what comes with our standards and Chelsea being one of the best clubs in the world, so we need to get comfortable with that. We need to make sure when we go into the season, we don't have any regrets and we give our all any time we step into the pitch.
What remains certain is that Chelsea are in the midst of morphing into something new. Consistent evolution was one of the secrets to Hayes' success, and Bompastor will be hoping the same principle applies now.
What happens next
Chelsea's immediate focus turns to European qualification. The club faces Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Women's Champions League third qualifying round on 26 August 2026, with the return leg scheduled for 2 September 2026. Success in that tie will secure automatic entry into the league phase.
The WSL campaign begins shortly after. Chelsea's opening fixture is a home match against Aston Villa on 5 September 2026, marking the start of their domestic challenge to reclaim the title they lost last season.
