Branislav Ivanovic believes Chelsea now have a squad strong enough to challenge for every trophy this season.
Debutants Eden Hazard and Oscar both impressed in the 2-0 win at Wigan.
The club spent £57million on the pair in a bid to overhaul the Manchester clubs, who finished 25 points ahead of them in the title race last term. But while more signings are expected before the transfer window closes next week, most pundits have written Chelsea off as serious contenders.
But Ivanovic is convinced they have improved on the team that won the Champions League and FA Cup last season.
He said: “Do the new players excite everyone? Yes of course. You have to have a big and good enough squad and that is what we have. The new players are great. During the pre-season they have shown they have fantastic quality and we have changed a lot as a team because all of them are so creative. They [Oscar and Hazard] have given us the pace we needed. They are great players and every team needs this kind of quality.
“Eden had a great performance against Wigan and is the type of player we needed in the team. Oscar is great too. He has a great view of the game. He is young also and we get something special from him in the creativity department.
“If we want to win we have to be at the top level in every game and win the difficult games.”
Chelsea will have the added distraction of playing Atletico Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup later this month, as well as the Fifa World Club Cup in December.
It means Chelsea face a busy fixture schedule from the outset, including the home match against Reading, which has been moved to this Wednesday due to their Super Cup clash.
Ivanovic added: “We have enough players and quality to cope with all competitions. With hard work, we can make it.”
