Chelsea's first stars are in pre-season treason as Mauricio Pochettino well into his first week in the cut and thrust of watching over the Blues. The former Spurs boss officially took charge of the team on July 1 before seeing his first proper day take place on Monday with a hole host of media duties and even a barbecue.
Pochettino has a smaller group after Chelsea saw N'Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount all depart the club, but also an array of players have yet to return for pre-season training. The likes of Noni Madueke and Levi Colwill remain in the under-21 European Championships, while those involved in senior international football have an extended period away before meeting Pochettino for the first time.
That is the case most seasons and it can play a big role in team selections for an opening friendly. Last season for example, Thomas Tuchel utilised eight players in his starting XI who had appeared in training earliest, with Thiago Silva, Conor allagher and Kai Havertz the only internationals to start against Club America.
Last summer was more truncated than most, but with a two-week period between the first day back at Cobham and the first game in the USA, there is a similar gap 12 months on. Perhaps, already there has been a hint of who could take the field against Wrexham, albeit with plenty of subsitutes no doubt.
There aren't too many goalkeepers hanging around at Cobham just now, with only Teddy Sharman-Lowe being shown thus far. It's not a stretch to believe Kepa Arrizabalaga will take to the net, or perhaps even Marcus Bettinelli if the Spaniard is deemed not to have been around long enough.
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Reece James, Thiao Silva, Trevoh Chalobah Ben Chilwell would provide a formidable backline, with plenty of options to rotate even from those who have already arrived at Cobham. It seems decisions may need to be made at left-back with Marc Cucurella, Lewis Hall and Ian Maatsen all contending for a role as well as Chilwell. Pochettino will be sure to assess who is the ideal candidate for a loan or perhaps even a transfer.
Andrey Santos could quickly find himself with a role with a scarcity of midfielders for the moment. Enzo Fernandez and Gallagher will be back in time for the US tour and the former has a talent to get him a start so it would not be a major surprise if he was in action early. After a compact 12 months of playing, he is sure to be managed carefully to be brought into the season at his peak, however. Cesare Casadei could help fill out the midfield while providing support further up the pitch too having won the golden ball and boot awards with Italy at the under-20 World Cup.
Carney Chukwuemeka wasted little time working with a personal trainer following his time with England under-20s and will hope to come back firing. With the delayed returns of Mykhailo Mudryk and Madueke, there will be opportunities to support the attack that the likes of Omari Hutchinson and Harvey Vale will also hope to take advantage of if they can force their way into the travelling squad.
As a result, Raheem Sterling becomes an easy option in attack too and will add some experience. The former Man City star will be able to test the opposite backline and will have the opportunity to work closely with Armando Broja before the likes of Nicoals Jackson and Christopher Nkunku are introduced to the squad. Of course, both could feature, but if Broja's fitness is up to scratch, it could be the perfect opportunity for his first game back before Premier League opposition arrives.
