The joke doing the rounds after Chelsea’s Club World Cup triumph was that photos of Donald Trump stood among the players during their trophy lift felt more like the results of AI fabrication than real-life footage.
But while the US President's appearance was rather unprecedented, it feels like we might have to get used to the sight of Chelsea lifting major silverware.
Forty-six days after the Blues won the Conference League in Wroclaw, they were crowned world champions by stunning Paris Saint-Germain in New Jersey. After a turbulent few years, it feels very much as though Chelsea are a serious force once more.
Serious team, and serious contenders. At the end of a draining campaign that lasted 51 weeks and 65 games, Chelsea showed during their month in America that they could challenge for the biggest trophies next season.
Enzo Maresca’s side can be title contenders and should not be intimidated by anyone on their return to the Champions League. Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all showed vulnerabilities at the Club World Cup, and Chelsea hammered PSG.
Maresca has said publicly that the youth and talent in the Chelsea squad means they can dominate English football over the next five to 10 years.
Winning the Club World Cup is the single most compelling piece of evidence yet that the Chelsea manager may be right.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City will head into the season as the three biggest favourites to win the title. But Chelsea have shown they can mix it with the best and come out on top, having just thrashed the team who beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final and dismantled Real Madrid 4-0 in their semi-final last week.
The Blues were so relentless, so much better drilled than PSG that Maresca insisted his team had won the final in the “first 10 minutes”. Certainly, he got his game-plan spot on and his players executed it perfectly.
Fans are yet to see new signing Jamie Gittens in a Chelsea shirt, yet the appearances of Joao Pedro in the second half of the Club World Cup were so encouraging and felt pivotal to them getting over the line and winning the trophy.
The Brazilian scored three goals in two starts and each finish was taken with unbridled confidence. Great wealth has been spent on compiling this team. At last, the investment is paying dividends.
“Winning this trophy is a big statement,” said captain Reece James. “I hope next season we are competing in the Premier League to win the title and competing to go far in the Champions League.”
The spine is there for Chelsea to sustain a title challenge, not merely up until December as last season.
Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah have formed an excellent understanding as a centre-back pairing; Moises Caicedo was possibly the best defensive midfielder in England last season; Joao Pedro and Liam Delap look set for a fascinating battle for game time up front.
And there is a genuine star at the heart of it all in Cole Palmer, no longer drifting in and out of games and firmly back among the goals at the Club World Cup.
Against PSG, when Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia or Fabian Ruiz could easily have taken on the mantle, it was instead Palmer who could not be predicted, could not be stopped, and whose immense impact proved decisive.
He scored twice, assisted once, and makes anything possible for Chelsea as they head into the new season.
But first, a three-week rest. No one can say they haven’t earned it.
