PICTURES: First day of preseason training with Mauricio Pochettino

It may be a bit cold and wet in Londontown, but I assure you that it is in fact July, the middle of the summer, and the start of the 2023-24 (pre-)season.

Chelsea began preparations for the new season today, on Mauricio Pochettino’s second official day as our new manager, with the first-team players not involved in summer internationals all reporting back to Cobham, in addition to several youngsters and loan returnees.

All decked out in the wonderful but ridiculously overpriced training gear, the headliners include Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, and Raheem Sterling, while youngsters like Andrey Santos, Cesare Casadei, and Ian Maatsen were all present as well. How many of the latter group may stick around for the USA Tour in a couple weeks — the rest of the squad should start filtering back shortly — not to mention the actual season that starts in six weeks, remains to be seen, but their and our new adventure starts today, and that’s pretty exciting in its own way.

Day One vibes immaculate. Let’s go!