Chelsea’s Under-21 head coach, Calum McFarlane, will temporarily lead the first team for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Manchester City following Enzo Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day.
Speaking at Cobham ahead of the match, McFarlane described the past 24 hours as “a crazy whirlwind” but emphasized his focus on preparing the squad for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
“We don’t know what the future holds beyond this game. For now, the brief is to prepare the lads for Man City on Sunday. We’ll aim to give a good account of ourselves and try to get a positive result,” he said.
Acknowledging the challenge ahead, he added: “We know we’ll be facing a strong team in good form, led by a top manager. But we have good players too, and we’ll approach the game with positivity.”
On injuries, McFarlane provided an update on Marc Cucurella, who missed the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. “It’s positive that Marc is back in training. We’ll see about him playing; I don’t have full information yet. Otherwise, no other updates on players at the moment.”
Chelsea will look to kick off 2026 strongly under McFarlane’s interim guidance at the Etihad.
