To say the very, very, very least, August was a busy month for Chelsea Football Club.
As well as being extraordinarily active in the transfer market (signing and selling roughly a million players), the Blues also began life under Enzo Maresca with five games in quick succession.
Two wins, two defeats and a draw was perhaps not the outcome Maresca was hoping for from said games, but there were a few positives to take from individual performances.
Here’s Chelsea’s best-performing players of the month, according to 90min’s esteemed player ratings.
Average rating: 6.2
Best performance: vs Wolves
Moises Caicedo’s importance to Enzo Maresca’s plans at Chelsea were made explicit by the fact that he featured in every single one of the games in August.
The midfielder was even handed the captain’s armband for the Blues’ UEFA Conference League first leg clash with Servette at Stamford Bridge.
We expect this’ll be the first of many times Caicedo will lead Chelsea out at the Bridge.
Average rating: 6.25
Best performance: vs Crystal Palace
Nicolas Jackson is perennially the butt of jokes on social media, but on the pitch he’s actually performing pretty damn well.
The stats prove it: two goals and one assist in three Premier League appearances in nothing to be sniffed at.
Average rating: 6.25
Best performance: vs Servette (home leg)
Chelsea have Christopher Nkunku to thank for their progression into the UEFA Europa Conference League ‘league’ phase this season.
The France forward netted crucial goals in both legs against Servette to see the Blues through.
Average rating: 6.8
Best performance: vs Wolves
All in, it’s safe to say that August was a pretty damn good month for Cole Palmer.
As well as continuing his fine form from 2023/24 by bagging five goal contributions in three games – four of which came against Wolves alone – Palmer also lifted the PFA Young Player of the Year award too. Nice one.
Average rating: 8
Best performance: vs Wolves
Considering just how many forwards Chelsea have on the books, we weren’t sure if Noni Madueke would get much game time under new boss Maresca.
Despite said options, Madueke has been given plenty of game time and more than made the most of it.
August 2024 was in fact the best month of the wide forward’s career to date. And his hat-trick against Wolves was the best single game performance of his career too.