Squad strength excites Marin

Marko Marin declared Chelsea have the squad to win the Barclays Premier League and defend the Champions League after finally making his debut for the club.

Marin got his first taste of competitive action in Tuesday night's Capital One Cup thrashing of Wolves almost five months after agreeing a £7million move from Werder Bremen.

He said: "If you are to win the Premier League and Champions League, you need a lot of quality players. Chelsea have changed a lot since last season and now we have more attractive and offensive players. We hope that there are a lot of goals in this team because then it is more difficult for the other teams to play against us."

Unlike Chelsea's other summer signings, the Germany midfielder elected to join them before they ended their agonising wait for Champions League glory and while their participation in this season's competition remained in serious doubt.

The 23-year-old, who officially become a Blues player when the transfer window opened on July 1, then watched as the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar, Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses all followed him to Stamford Bridge.

But he was the last of them to make his competitive bow after picking up a hamstring injury in pre-season that ended up keeping him out until Tuesday night.

Chelsea's Premier League title credentials face their first real test on Saturday when they travel to Arsenal. The Blues have cruised to the top of the table but have yet to face any of the top nine.

Arsenal are also being touted as serious title contenders this season, having recovered well from the sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United.

Marin felt it was "difficult to say" if the Gunners were genuine rivals.

"They have a good team but they lost Van Persie, who was the best scorer last season," he said. "I'm not sure they have played against a good team like us."