Thomas Tuchel can repeat pre-season trick and save Todd Boehly millions in Chelsea squad rebuild

It is on July 2 that the first group of Chelsea players return to Cobham for pre-season. For many, those early training sessions will be solely about building up fitness ahead of the club's tour of the United States. Yet for several others, they provide a vital opportunity to impress Thomas Tuchel.

The Chelsea head coach will not have his full squad to work with during the first week of July; the majority of those players who've been away on international duty this month aren't set to report back until the Blues are in Los Angeles. So returning loanees and a handful of promising youngsters should be involved.

Some will feel more confident in catching Tuchel's eye than others. Yet there is strong evidence the German coach does not come into pre-season with preconceived notions about a player's ability or their position in the squad hierarchy. He judges them on what he sees.

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That was proved last summer, in which Tuchel oversaw a complicated pre-season campaign. The European Championship and Copa America – plus ongoing Covid-19 restrictions – meant the Chelsea head coach had to put together a mix-and-match squad for the Blues' early warm-up matches.

Yet one player consistently caught his eye: Trevoh Chalobah. The 22-year-old had returned off a good season on loan at Lorient and was ready to follow in the footsteps of former academy teammates Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham and make his mark in the first-team squad.

"I didn't speak to the manager, I didn't know the manager. I had played against him when he was at PSG because he came in [to Chelsea] during the second half of the season, but I'd never