Thomas Tuchel set to be without 18 Chelsea stars for the beginning of pre-season training

The first-team building at Chelsea's training base in Cobham has been quiet over the last four weeks. A couple of players have been in to undertake rehabilitation and recovery work following injuries, but the vast majority of Thomas Tuchel's squad has either been away on international duty or on holiday.

That will all change at the start of next month. It's on July 2 that Tuchel will welcome back the first group of Chelsea players for pre-season training. There will be several established stars involved, such as Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Hakim Ziyech.

A handful of returning loanees are also expected to be given an opportunity to impress by Tuchel. Nathan Baxter, Levi Colwill and Dujon Sterling will be back after strong seasons in the Championship at Hull City, Huddersfield Town and Blackpool respectively. Tino Anjorin, meanwhile, is set to be involved and has an admirer in Tuchel following his efforts in the 2020/21 campaign.

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A handful of young academy graduates could also be given a chance to catch the eye. Xavier Simons, Lewis Hall, Harvey Vale and Jude Soonsup-Bell all played first-team minutes last term and could again be brought up to train with the senior players, especially as they'll be further along in their pre-season with the Development Squad returning earlier than Tuchel's.

This first group will be put through their paces at Cobham for a week before the first-team squad flies out to the USA on July 9 for Chelsea's pre-season tour. The Blues will spend almost a week in Los Angeles before matches against Club America in Las Vegas, Charlotte FC in Charlotte, and Arsenal in