Chelsea did enough in the Premier League to return to Europe's top table via the conventional route, finishing fourth after a final-day win at Nottingham Forest. Their strong end to the campaign continued with a 4-1 triumph over Betis which brought Enzo Maresca his first trophy since being appointed 12 months ago.

But with over £1billion spent by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in the transfer market, fans are expecting Chelsea to be fighting it out with the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal for Premier League titles.

And once they take their spot in the Champions League next term, Maresca's deep squad will be tasked with marching through to the knockout stages. Apart from a blip early in the final, Chelsea's Conference League victory came with relative ease.

They breezed through the league phase with an unblemished record and comfortably won all three of their two-legged knockout ties. Abde Ezzalzouli looked to have thrown a spanner in the works with an early strike for Betis in Wroclaw, but Chelsea regrouped at the interval and produced a four-goal barrage in the final half-hour of the game.

"It's a great feeling," said James. "We knew the game was going to be tough, and they made it tough for us in the first half. We grew into the game as it went on and thankfully we scored four goals in the second half."

He added: "I thought we were very flat in the first half. Things didn't go our way early on and it looked like it took a lot out of us. We needed a reaction and we got it. Coming into this competition, it was something we had to win, and next season we go again in the Champions League."