Dusk was fast approaching when Thomas Tuchel and his Chelsea players walked onto the Drake Stadium pitch at UCLA for the first training session of their summer tour of the USA. Yet as was famously highlighted in La La Land, there's always another day of sun to come in Los Angeles.
The clear blue skies are just part of the reason Chelsea opted to travel stateside this summer. The chance to finally market Christian Pulisic in his homeland was a key factor, as was the desire to continue to build the club's brand in the U.S, something even more pertinent following the takeover by Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium.
But arguably the most important benefit of the trip – which will take Chelsea to LA, Las Vegas, Charlotte and Orlando – is it gives Tuchel and Chelsea's players a prolonged opportunity to bond away from the stresses and demands of the regular season. And that is not something they've had since the German took charge in January 2021.
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Twelve months ago, pre-season was impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and the delayed return of countless stars from the European Championship and Copa America. It meant, barring a few days in Ireland, all of Chelsea's work was done at Cobham and naturally, players would head home after sessions.
This time around, Chelsea's players and staff will be able to spend important time together at the various plush hotels booked across the tour. A night out as a group may even be possible, and there will undoubtedly be some keen to explore their surroundings at the various stop-off points.
The squad that undertook that early evening training session on Saturday – and a more intense workout on Sunday – was missing two notable figures. Due to their Covid vaccination status, N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are not on the club's tour. They will instead continue their pre-season work at Cobham.
To be without Kante is a blow. Tuchel spoke passionately after the penultimate home game of last season about how the French midfielder was the club's own Kylian Mbappe, Chelsea's own Neymar. But the German also highlighted the injury issues that had blighted Kante's 2021/22 campaign.
Hope remains the 31-year-old can put those behind him, but Tuchel will have wanted to have worked with Kante at close quarters throughout the summer to ensure he was in peak physical condition for the opening game of the Premier League season on August 6. Instead, he is going to have to trust the club's fitness coaches back in the UK.
Also absent from the squad that jetted out to Los Angeles was striker Armando Broja, who spent last season on loan at Southampton. The academy graduate has attracted strong interest this summer from West Ham United but that isn't believed to be the reason he wasn't on the plane. There is an expectation the 20-year-old, a boyhood Chelsea fan, will join the squad in the coming days.
As should Raheem Sterling. Chelsea have agreed a £50million deal with Man City for the England international, whose signing should be confirmed in the coming days. The 27-year-old was back in London over the weekend to undergo a medical – and get a haircut – and is expected to soon join up with the squad in the States.
There has been as much debate about those on the trip as those not. Questions remain over the futures of Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and Hakim Ziyech amid interest from Barcelona and AC Milan respectively. There's also a fair debate to be had as to why the likes of Kenedy, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi have travelled when they appear to have no long-term future at Stamford Bridge.
It's not only the men's side that will enjoy time in America this summer. The Development Squad will head out later this month to compete in the inaugural MLS Next Pro Invitational while the Women's side are competing in the Women’s International Champions Cup in August.
Staff from Chelsea Foundation are currently out in LA and have already put on coaching sessions for local school children and coaches. There was also a meet-and-greet on Sunday where youngsters were able to meet the likes of Pulisic, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and a handful of other first-team stars.
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