Cesar Azpilicueta has signed a new contract at Chelsea, did that come as a surprise to you?
"No, not surprised because we were part of the process. We are very happy as our captain, our skiper stays on board. I've said many times he embodies everything that Chelsea stands for: he's humble yet so successful and competitive at the same time.
"He's a legend at the club and can now lead as an example, keep on leading, keep on doing what he has for so many years. So this is very good for us."
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Chelsea have been very active in the transfer market and Gary Neville said that perhaps Todd Boehly was panicking, do you think that is far?
"Panicking? No, I would describe it as super hard working and learning while new on the job. There is a lot going on: new ownership and then stepping into the transfer market is probably one of the toughest things you can do when coming from outside.
"But I have nothing but the biggest respect and compliments for both Todd (Boehly) and Behdad (Eghbali) I don't know when they sleep, maybe they never sleep. We have a very honest, very open, very direct line of communication and the transfers so far speak for themselves.
"We have a delay, of course. We had the delay because of the sanctions and the sanctions led to the loss of key players (Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen). But like I said, both of the owners are involved in the daily business, they are doing a fantastic job so far and the transfer market speaks for itself."
What can you tell us about the Marc Cucurella deal and are you happy with Levi Colwill going to Brighton?
“It’s not done yet. I don’t want to tell you that I know nothing. The paperwork is in process and hopefully, we can get it finished before noon and Marc is our player. He is a fantastic, young player. Hungry, mobile, very intelligent player. He can play several positions in our system and that’s why we hope the transfer goes through. If it goes through, it opens some options like for Levi Colwill to maybe find some more game time elsewhere.”
Would you like Colwill back in the future?
“It’s a bit hard to judge him. He came back and there was not a lot of game time in pre-season to give to him because of a little injury he suffered in training. The situation is the situation, it is always very individual as always. If there is a possibility for him to have a good loan or a situation where he can develop and improve, we are open to any talks and solutions.”
Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang scored 79 goals for you at Borussia Dortmund, would you be interested in bringing him back to London?
“I would be interested in the 79 goals! We will not comment further. There are a lot of names out there, sometimes due to the fact we discuss a lot of names but also sometimes pure speculation. We will not get involved.”
You said a week ago you didn't think you were ready, where would you say you are now?
“We are some steps further. It was absolutely necessary. Maybe it was also necessary to lose that game like we lost it against Arsenal, against a big rival in the league who is trying to take our place. Maybe it was a wake-up call for everybody. Since then we have stepped up.
"As always, the last week before the season is always where you feel a new focus, new excitement, new level of focus in training. Legs are fresh now, fresher than when we trained in Florida. Still, we are not where we can be but let’s see, we feel ready and competitive for tomorrow.
"A very good training week so far, the atmosphere is back to where it was before the Arsenal game like in the first weeks of preseason. Then we lost the energy towards the Arsenal game. After that we needed to digest but last week is good, we feel ready for tomorrow. This is very important to not lose focus and take the first week step by step. We took the possibility to prepare the whole week for Saturday, nothing else. This is where we are.”
How would you describe pre-season, was it frustrating at times?
“Frustrating is the wrong word. It was challenging, very demanding. Time-wise, I was sometimes involved in things where I did not spend too much time normally. My day is only 24 hours so sometimes I needed to and was happy to rely on my staff to do preparations for training more than I was normally involved.
"It was needed, it was necessary. I spend a lot of time with our new owners to align our thoughts, align our ideas, to discuss and re-discuss our opinions. It was necessary, it still is like this so it was needed that I adapt. It was not frustrating but quite challenging and time-consuming.
"I can do my job properly but some stuff came to it, extra stuff, we do our job properly and it decreased with every day we knew each other better. The communication gets clearer since we are here, it is business as usual plus some extra stuff regarding the transfers.”
Can anyone get close to Man City and Liverpool this season, maybe Chelsea?
“I struggle a little bit to keep our ambitions down. I don’t want to lower our ambitions. I struggle also a little bit to put the pressure on us and say yes we can because I believe we are a club in transition still. We are a team in transition still. At the same time, I don’t want to limit us from the beginning and say it is not possible because who knows what is possible?
"For me, it is possible in both directions so we should be humble and try hard to be the best version of ourselves. I can only speak for us. We have the capacity to win consecutive football games in the Premier League. This is what we try to do. We are well aware of the quality of Liverpool and Man City. I am well aware of the quality of Tottenham, Arsenal and Man United.
"There is normally one or two teams step up surprisingly maybe and over perform. This is the Premier League, which is why it is so exciting. I don’t want to limit our expectations right now. At the same time, I don’t want to put too much pressure on us. I don’t think we are anywhere in the moment where this helps us."
You mentioned Tottenham and Arsenal there, isn't there pressure coming from behind you know from clubs looking to knock you out of the top four?
“I think that Tottenham and Arsenal showed in pre-season and transfer market – and Man United – what their ambition is. They have a clear target to catch us and get closer to the top two teams. This is for me very clear. We are in the middle of it.
"It helps nothing if we break our heads over the other teams. We need to be ready for Saturday and we will be ready. We will take advantage of the start of the season where we have a full week to prepare. This is where the focus is. Step by step it seems we have a very competitive team.
"I am very happy with the players who came and made our squad stronger and with what they bring to this team. This is where the focus is. The players came late, we are in a bit of a delay, still need to adapt, still players to come in. It is a kind of disadvantage but for Saturday we have the guys we have. We rely on them and will push them to the limit. We can be ready to win a tough match in Everton.”
Were you surprised that Chelsea were able to sign Raheem Sterling, and do you plan to play with a false nine this season?
“Surprised is not the right word. There were rumours and signs it could be possible. Any player with a one-year contract you can try. Very soon we had the feeling it was clear he would be a perfect fit for us in this stage of his career.
"He gave us the feeling he would be absolutely happy to make this step and step up into a new chapter, a new club, and take even more responsibility in this stage of his career so once we had this feeling and feedback, we tried and succeeded which was for us very important.
"He is one of our offensive players. If we play in the same structure it will be very fluid. It can be Kai (Havertz), it can be him, it can be Timo Werner, also Armando Broja who is now in the squad. And that gives us different profiles, different type of playing.
"Liverpool and City showed it is possible to be very successful with a fluid type of offensive player in the nine position. We go from there.”
With the World Cup in November, will you approach the season by splitting it into two because nobody has ever had this before?
“And hopefully not after because it does not make so much sense. You feel it. The players are very focused on this World Cup already, which is a good thing because they come in shape and take care of themselves. But it is also a bad thing as they are focused on the World Cup and not here. A part of them, I have a feeling, is already thinking about November.
"We will see how it influences the players and the performances in October when it gets closer, then it will be for me a huge impact emotionally and physically on the guys that go to the World Cup. They will come back drained physically but also mentally with big success, big emotions, positive or huge disappointment, you never know.
" Then, right away, four or five days later, we have Boxing Day. Let’s see. Nobody did it before. We feel already and the talks with the players, the excitement, which is normal and a good thing. We try to turn it around and use it for us but I am a bit uncertain about all this. ”
You've signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, what do you expect him to add to your side and squad?
“We followed him for many years. Me personally and my staff followed him for many years and tried many times and were never successful because it is very hard to get players from Napoli, who are well known for the fact that they keep their squad together.
"He’s a leader. We had good information about him from Edou (Mendy) and from Jorginho. We got the same feedback: a fantastic guy, a leader in the dressing room, calm, a role model. When you dig in and start looking at his games, analysing his games, you see the quality in defending, the quality in body positioning, his timing of defending.
"He uses both feet for build-up, he is confident, mobile and very experienced. When we had the chance, we went for it. It was our top priority. Very happy that he is with us.”
Will the signing of Marc Cucurella take the pressure of Ben Chilwell in his comeback from injury?
“Yeah. Absolutely it helps with the depth and especially for Ben to escape the pressure of, 'I have to deliver because we need you absolutely now’. We have, of course, also in this position Marcos Alonso, Kenedy and Emerson. Hopefully, when things go through, Marc is the option in this position.
But he can play very well in the back three too. It’s a similar profile of Azpi, but with the left foot. He gives us many options. For Ben, he is very ambitious. He couldn’t wait to come back to team training. He looks better and better but at the same time, it looks like he needs more time to adapt to the physicality of the match itself, which is absolutely normal. It is not only about training and training exercises, little pitches.
"In the end, it is a very demanding leave. We have to take care of him, it’s our responsibility. We can’t throw him in and see what is coming. He is impatient, we will never expect him to be fully patient. He knows, we speak a lot about it. Everything needs its time. He will get the time and still, we will try to put him on the pitch as soon as possible. He is and was a huge asset for us with his speed and repetition of intensity.”
Will the five substitutes rule have an impact this season?
“I like it a lot. We were the only league that did not use it so I felt it was a disadvantage in Champions League matches when opponents came from their leagues and had five changes available and we didn’t. I think we can now use this option and it gives you the possibility to use more players, have more impact tactically and physically in the game.
"It gives, of course, the players more chance for game time which is key also. It’s a huge factor in being satisfied and bringing your constant good energy, even if you maybe don’t start so often. We can reward players for their performance in training or in games.”
Do you think the World Cup will change your focus for the season about how you plan?
“No, the opposite. As I explained before, not only because of the World Cup but also how we see ourselves, with a bit of delay and the sanctions and change of ownership, we allow ourselves the luxury to dig in week by week now into this season.
"This is how we decided in the staff to communicate to the team, let’s take this opportunity and go week by week. This full week was dedicated to Everton. The whole next week will be dedicated by what we do, how we act and the way we train. This will be focus on Tottenham, then Leeds. This is actually how we start this season and from there we go.”
And just on Everton, what do you expect from the game?
“We played very late last season in Everton but we lost. We remember very well. We need nothing more to know what is coming. Fantastic atmosphere, very emotional crowd, very emotional team. Of course, we know some familiar faces on the other side of the bench.
"The bench is not so far away in Everton. And still, we have nothing but respect for Frank and his staff. A lot of people with Chelsea history, it was very respectful between the two benches and it will be but at the same time will be very competitive. Was a very late game in the season and we lost it and absolutely do not like to lose. We even dislike it more to lose twice, so we know what is coming and we will be ready."
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