Todd Boehly can avoid Thomas Tuchel Chelsea warning by securing World Cup transfer insurance

It feels remotely absurd that there is a flurry of internationals happening right now, with some players featuring in up to four games for their nations off the back of another taxing season.

In a Premier League content, both Liverpool and Chelsea players played over 60 games, including the international commitments for those called up. It is under a month now till pre-season begins at Cobham, and although a batch of the players currently playing won't return with the first group on the 2nd of July, it still seems like it's adding further strain onto an already demanding schedule.

You throw all of this into the context of a year that will end with a winter World Cup and the need for rest is even more obvious.

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Chelsea will likely be heavily represented in Qatar, with some maybe going the distance before the club season restarts on Boxing Day, a week after the final itself. There's the guarantee of tired players, ones who will need rest and slow reintegration.

Thomas Tuchel expressed his concern over the amount being played last season, stressing how it could impact the quality of the games themselves. “I think there are too many games and too many competitions for the top players in the clubs,” Tuchel said. “The game is for the players and for the spectators – and the spectators want to have the top players on the pitch. They want them fit, healthy, hungry and you cannot always provide it if you play so many games in so many different competitions.”

Tuchel will be pleased he will have the new benefit of five substitutions in all competitions next season, a change he has consistently called for since becoming Chelsea head