Mauricio Pochettino officially became Chelsea head coach on Saturday, but entered Cobham on Monday morning ready to tackle his first day of pre-season with his new players. The Blues have already signed six new players this summer, but only Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson will come straight into the senior squad.
There have been nine players leave the club including Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N'Golo Kante. Pochettino has been tasked with overseeing an overhaul of the senior squad and Chelsea are expected to bring in a few more signings ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
Moises Caicedo is seen as a priority for the Blues with talks currently ongoing over a potential deal. Brighton are hoping to receive a fee in the region of £80million for the Ecuador international with Chelsea leading the race for his signature.
In his first interview as Chelsea manager, Pochettino has hinted at the likelihood of more signings this summer whilst also sending a clear message to current players regarding his expectations of the team. When asked what expectations he has of the players at Cobham, the Argentine replied: "The expectation is to for them to be open and to let us manage.
"They need for us, first of all, to create a platform so they can feel comfortable here. They need to have their space and feel important.
"Our expertise is to give Chelsea the best tools for the players to be successful, to improve individually and collectively. We have the experience and together we can create a fantastic journey.
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"That is what we want: to be together, to work together, and be part of this football club. If we are all together, we are going to be very strong.
"We have an unbelievable squad and for sure are going to bring players with commitment who want to be part of it also. With the fans and everyone, we can find again the way to be successful."
The profile of the squad has changed drastically in the last year with over £600million being spent by Todd Boehly on new signings. However, Pochettino sees this as an exciting opportunity to build a squad full of talent that can help bring success back to Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino added: "It is exciting for us because we love good players. Players with the capacity and then talent, but also we want people who want to be with us at this club and be really open to help the club achieve want we want."
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