The Blues have never finished higher than sixth in the three years since the WSL was introduced.
The league will expand to two divisions this year, and ahead of competing in the top tier of women’s football Chelsea have been busy expanding their ranks.
South Korea international midfielder Ji So-Yun is the most recent of five new arrivals and she follows hot on the heels of a quartet of English players.
England internationals Rachel Williams and Laura Bassett have both signed from Birmingham City while Katie Chapman, capped 82 times by England, has joined from Arsenal along with 22-year-old defender Gilly Flaherty.
England's Laura Bassett has joined from Birmingham
It leaves manager Emma Hayes confident her side can finally push up the table and compete with the very best in the country.
“With the new signings we have made I think we can continue to improve, we definitely want to be more competitive next season,” she said.
“Chelsea have languished at the bottom of the table for too long and we had to look to address that.
“Rachel will provide us with a proven goalscorer and will bring us that winning mentality, she is a player I had admired for a long time.
“Laura Bassett brings some much needed experience at the back and is a great leader.
“We are always interested in good people as well as good players at this football club and the signings we have made are all players with a proven calibre of playing at the highest level.”
While the new WSL season does not start until April, Chelsea have already been busy getting up to speed on their pre-Christmas tour to Japan where they competed in the International Women’s Club Championship.
They eventually lost out 4-2 to Japanese side INAC Kobe Leonessa in the final, but having got close to a taste of silverware, Hayes is eyeing up an attack on all fronts domestically next season.
“We want to keep improving. Chelsea have not won trophy and it’s about time we changed that and we were competing for something,” she added.
“It’s going to be an exciting league next year, a lot of teams have brought in players so it will be interesting to see what happens but it’s an exciting time for women’s football.”
