Chelsea's first-team players are currently ensconced in Abu Dhabi, hopefully enjoying much warmer and dryer weather than they would be in Cobham.
But they are not on holiday, as some may think. They have a job to do and an opportunity to win the FIFA Club World Cup and become England’s third winner of the competition behind Manchester United (2008) and Liverpool (2019).
It may be inconvenient in a season bedevilled by injuries to key players and compounded by players getting Covid-19 – and the highest number of fixtures endured by the club for many a year.
