Enzo Maresca says Chelsea are already intending to make more signings next year in order to bridge the gap to Manchester City and Arsenal.
Chelsea were the biggest spenders for the third time in the last four windows this summer, with £219million spent on transfers.
It takes their outlay on the team since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in May 2022 to well over £1billion.
Despite this, Maresca does not see Chelsea as ready to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal, who currently sit first and second respectively in the Premier League table.
He said: “I think we are a very good squad but there are clubs like Manchester City and Arsenal that are ahead of us, no doubt. Hopefully (if) we progress and (keep) improving, we can slowly, slowly be close to them. But I think it is quite clear that in this moment Arsenal and Manchester City are ahead of the rest.
“Like I have said, the reason why is one club is nine years with the same manager (Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016), the other (Mikel Arteta at Arsenal) is five years. The rest of the clubs…is a short time.”
When pressed if that meant Chelsea need to buy more players, he added: “The target after the last summer (window) is to try to do less things but more specific.
“This is the target for January and for next summer. Hopefully it can be like this.”