Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel was back at the Cobham training ground on Thursday to begin his pre-season preparations ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
Tuchel has permanently relocated to London over the summer having signed a two-year contract extension on top of his original 18-month deal he penned in January to replace Frank Lampard.
It was straight down to business for the German head coach and his staff in midweek but he didn’t welcome any of his players back for business until Friday.
Even then, only four players showed up.
Not because the others couldn't be bothered, of course, but the Blues are staggering the return of the players over the coming days as they ease themselves back into pre-season training.
Those players away with their country at the Euros and Copa America in the case of Thiago Silva, won’t be back at the training ground until late July or early August in the case of Silva and those involved in the Euros quarter finals and beyond.
Three academy graduates were the first players through the door at the training ground on Friday morning.
Tino Anjorin, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham were the trio, who underwent tests and did a small amount of gym work and ball work out on the perfectly manicured pitches at the training ground.
They were joined later in the afternoon by defender Marcos Alonso.
That was it for the first day at Cobham as the Blues players sported their swish new training kit and a new sponsor, Trivago, as they got down to work.
The club released a short video clip of Tuchel greeting the academy graduate trio as they arrived back at the training ground six weeks after Chelsea’s Champions League triumph.
And the German had a hilarious reaction to seeing so few players back at training on the first day.
He said: “Three players and, what, 24 coaches?” he wittingly mused as he went in for a hug with Anjorin, Hudson-Odoi and Abraham.
Tuchel will be seeing a few more players over the coming days at Cobham as the preparations ramp up a bit before the players head across the Irish Sea for a training camp in the coming days.
Football.London understands there will be one friendly on the trip, likely to be played behind closed doors in Ireland, before returning to England for the Mind Series of friendlies against Spurs and Arsenal in early August and the Super Cup clash with Villarreal in Belfast on August 11.
The head coach is expected to hand chances to youngsters like Anjorin, Xavier Mbuyamba, Dujon Sterling, Conor Gallagher, Marc Guehi and Tino Livramento during the pre-season campaign with many players not returning until at least a fortnight before the first Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace on August 14 at Stamford Bridge.
