Chelsea are currently navigating a period of transition, and as head coach Sonia Bompastor told Sky Sports ahead of the new WSL campaign, rebuilding a club of this stature takes time. Her comments may sound like a familiar cliché, but they capture the reality of a side that has undergone significant upheaval over the past two seasons. The first major shift came when Bompastor succeeded Emma Hayes, the architect of an era of unprecedented dominance.
Shortly thereafter, in February, Paul Green – who had shared the stewardship of the women’s side with Hayes – departed unexpectedly, leaving a leadership vacuum at the very top of the organisation. Replicating the sustained success that Hayes and Green achieved is a daunting challenge for any incoming manager.
In her debut season, Bompastor managed to guide Chelsea to an unbeaten domestic treble, a feat that some observers attribute in part to the lingering influence of Hayes’ systems and the quality of the squad she inherited. However, the second campaign laid bare the fact that the team was no longer the same powerhouse that had dominated for years; a new era was dawning, and the club needed to evolve. Entering her third pre‑season, Bompastor says she now feels fully backed by the club hierarchy and confident that she understands Chelsea’s identity and ambitions more clearly than ever before.
"I think now I understand what the club is about a lot more," Bompastor explained. "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." Chelsea’s domestic record last season highlighted the need for change. The Blues captured only the League Cup, finished third in the WSL behind Manchester City and Arsenal, and for the first time in six years missed out on the league title.
Bompastor reflected on those outcomes, noting that while the club is accustomed to lifting trophies, the season offered valuable lessons that must be absorbed. "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.
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." The summer transfer window has already begun to reshape the squad. Long‑standing figures such as former captain Millie Bright, prolific striker Sam Kerr, and key contributors Niamh Charles, Guro Reiten and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd have all departed, taking with them years of experience, leadership and silverware.
Bompastor acknowledged the cultural impact of those exits. "We lost some really important players in terms of the environment and culture," she 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 recruitment philosophy this season blends seasoned internationals with promising youth. The arrivals of Irish full‑back Katie McCabe and 18‑year‑old English prospect Nelly Las illustrate this balance.
Bompastor praised McCabe’s immediate influence on squad standards and leadership, while emphasizing Las’s potential and versatility. "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," Bompastor noted of McCabe. Regarding Las, she added, "It's important to have the right balance between experienced players, but also the youth into the squad.
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." The pressure to win at Chelsea is relentless, and the club now faces the delicate task of honouring its legacy while forging a new identity under Bompastor’s vision. Senior players, regardless of tenure, are expected to embody and transmit the standards set by the coaching staff.
Defender Ellie Carpenter, a recent signing who already boasts multiple trophies, has embraced a budding leadership role. "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. 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." One trophy that continues to elude the Blues is the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Historically, Chelsea’s recruitment has been geared toward European success, assuming domestic honours would follow.
Bompastor herself arrived from Lyon, where she lifted the Champions League, and she brought a cadre of players with European pedigree: Carpenter, new striker Melvine Malard, defender Kadeisha Buchanan, and veteran Lucy Bronze, who has now won the competition five times, albeit with other clubs. The question each season remains: will this be the year the Champions League finally arrives in blue? "Winning the Champions League is one of the main goals for us," Bompastor affirmed.
"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." Carpenter echoed that sentiment, stressing the blend of youth and experience as a competitive advantage. "It's always what Chelsea want.
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." The scrutiny that comes with wearing the Chelsea badge is intense, and Bompastor admits it is unlike anything she has experienced before. Yet she embraces it as a sign of the club’s stature. "I've never been in a place before where the scrutiny is so high like at Chelsea, but I'm comfortable with it.
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." In summary, Chelsea’s women’s team stands at a crossroads.
The blend of seasoned internationals, emerging talent, and a clear cultural blueprint under Bompastor aims to restore the club to the summit of both domestic and European football. The upcoming season will test whether the Blues can translate their renewed philosophy into silverware, particularly the elusive Champions League, while maintaining the winning tradition that defines Chelsea.