Mauricio Pochettino faces his biggest decision as Chelsea head coach yet when he chooses the club's new captain.
Cesar Azpilicueta has now joined Atletico Madrid, meaning the captain's armband is now vacant. With Mateo Kovacic, who would have been perhaps the leading candidate for the armband, also leaving to join Manchester City, a big decision awaits Pochettino.
When asked about any possible candidates to become captain, Pochettino replied: "First of all we need to build the suad and then I need to look at all the players before making a decision. I need to feel the players, feel the commitment, the character, the personality.
"One thing is we are working with them for positive and not so positive. First of all we need to close the club and the squad and then we have many players with experience and we will decide."
There are a couple of obvious candidates in Thiago Silva and Reece James. Silva, who has worn the armband on multiple occasions for the Blues, leads by example with how he performs on and off the pitch.
At 38 years old, Silva is the model professional. How he has kept himself in such good shape despite being close to 40 is really extraordinary. The Brazilian defender is very vocal on the pitch as well and this is even clearer to see when sat pitch side at Stamford Bridge.
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James is also a leading option for Chelsea. The Cobham graduate does look like he is the long-term captain at the club. The work he puts in off the pitch to help his cause on it is inspiring. Some of the work he has already done on his own accord in pre-season has not gone unnoticed at the club.
Chelsea through-and-through, James is what supporters call 'proper Chels'. Many thought that of Mason Mount once upon a time, but that has been tarnished somewhat by the recently-concluded transfer saga.
Apart from those two, there aren't too many, what you would call, obvious candidates for the armband. Kepa Arrizabalaga has a wealth of experience, but considering there is uncertainty over his future at the club, it perhaps would not be the wisest move.
Then you have the vastly experienced Raheem Sterling, but the 28-year-old has only been at the club 12 months. In his first season with the club, he failed to live up to expectations so he may need to prove himself as the top-class player we have seen over the years for Manchester City and Liverpool before he could be seriously considered for the captain role.
Pochettino has many big decisions to make before the season begins. He knows the challenge at hand. But perhaps none bigger than who will be wearing the armband for when Chelsea take on Liverpool in just over a months' time.
