Thomas Tuchel believes five teams can realistically win the Premier League title next season - including Erik ten Hag's Manchester United.
Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions on Sunday afternoon following a thrilling final day. Pep Guardiola's side got over the line after recovering from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 at the Etihad, edging Liverpool by just a point.
The gap between Liverpool in second and Chelsea in third was 18 points, but Blues boss Tuchel believes his side - as well as United and Tottenham - will challenge next season. Spurs, who haven't won silverware since 2008, finished fourth under Antonio Conte.
The Red Devils, meanwhile, could only finish sixth under interim manager Ralf Rangnick. They failed to compete on all fronts and haven't won a trophy since 2017. Their last Premier League title came in 2013 under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
"It will be a super tough race," said Tuchel after Chelsea's final Premier League game against Watford on Sunday. "Manchester United will be in the race and Tottenham will be in the race with Antonio Conte, for sure.
"We want to stay in the race and Liverpool and Man City do everything to make their squads bigger and they set the standard so high. This is the challenge in which we compete."
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Tuchel did not include Arsenal, who are regarded as one of the Premier League's "Big Six" clubs alongside the aforementioned. The Gunners were leading the race for fourth spot until a late collapse, losing 2-0 to Newcastle in their penultimate game.
Many Chelsea fans will be concerned about their hopes of challenging for silverware next season. The Blues are enduring a period of uncertainty after departing owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government for allegedly having ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin, something he denies. Russia are currently at war with Ukraine.
A consortium led by US billionaire Todd Boehly are in the process of completing a takeover and it is expected to be completed by the end of this month. The sale marks an end to Abramovich's 19-year reign at Stamford Bridge, with saw Chelsea win plenty of trophies - including five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues.
"We have at the moment a huge disadvantage - that’s not decisive yet," added Tuchel while discussing the club's future. "There is no need to make excuses now, it is just the situation we are in and we have to be as quick as possible.
"Right now, of course, it is unsatisfying because our hands are tied [banned from signing and selling players due to the sanctions] and we cannot act as we want. We have clear ideas for the profiles and characteristic of these players.
"It is not like you put a name on the list and then you get the player. You have to convince the player, you have to speak to other clubs and convince yourself this is the player, so there is normally a lot of work and it will be the same to be competitive next season, while, like everybody else, tries to close the gap to us, while the two top teams are what they are. A benchmark of consistency.
"This is the situation and from there we do our very best to be competitive because this is what we want to be."
