Chelsea and Enzo Maresca head across the Atlantic for their pre-season tour of America, with a squad of 28 players announced. The Blues flew out on the evening of Monday 22nd July ahead of their first friendly on Wednesday.
Despite a long list of players in the squad, there are still several Chelsea players that have been omitted having represented their respective nations in the latter stages of Euro 2024 and the Copa America.
As a result of this, a number of youngsters have been selected by Maresca, giving the Italian the opportunity to experiment throughout the tour.
The West Londoners will play a total of five pre-season friendlies against a variety of teams which provides multiple chances to players that would not necessarily be the first name on the team sheet.
Robert Sanchez, Marcus Bettinelli, Eddie Beach, Lucas Bergstrom
Wesley Fofana, Renato Veiga, Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Josh Acheampong, Benoit Badiashile, Reece James, Malo Gusto, Ben Chilwell
Lesley Ugochukwu, Romeo Lavia, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Andrey Santos, Carney Chukwuemeka
Raheem Sterling, Tyrique George, Mykhailo Mudryk, Angelo, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, Marc Guiu, Armando Broja, Nicolas Jackson
Notable inclusions and absences With the Blues on tour for almost three weeks, it is anticipated that players such as Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer may join up with the squad later down the line having been given extended breaks following international duty.
Midfield trio Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are also missing for that exact reason with Chelsea seemingly very low on numbers in that area for the start of pre-season.
Meanwhile, new signings Tosin Adarabioyo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Renato Veiga and Marc Guiu may be handed their first minutes in a Chelsea shirt following their inclusion in the squad.
Elsewhere, academy graduates Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George have been given the nod by Maresca and will be hoping to impress the new manager. However, defender Alfie Gilchrist is not in the squad with the full-back set to head out on loan this season.
Defender Trevoh Chalobah has controversially remained at Cobham as concerns grow over his Chelsea future. It now seems likely that the 25-year-old will be out the door this summer.
Finally, due to fitness concerns, Serbian shot stopper Djordje Petrovic and new recruit Omari Kellyman have not travelled but may well end up joining later on in the tour.
Who will Chelsea be playing in pre-season? Chelsea's first stop on the tour is Santa Clara, California where they will take on newly-promoted Wrexham at Levi's Stadium with a very late kick-off of 03:30am BST on Thursday 25th July.
A few days later, on Saturday night, Scottish Premiership champions Celtic are the next assignment for the Blues at Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana before facing Club America in Atlanta on the 1st August.
However, their final two friendlies of the tour will provide a tougher test for Chelsea against Manchester City and Real Madrid, the respective winners of the two previous UEFA Champions League campaigns.
The Blues take on Pep Guardiola's men in Ohio on Saturday 3rd August, before reuniting with former manager Carlo Ancelotti at midnight on Wednesday 7th August.
Despite the challenging encounters, Maresca may have a stronger squad to select from providing further first-team players join up.
Remainder of pre-season Maresca's men will return to the UK following the match against Real Madrid and have one final pre-season game to contend with a week before the season starts.
On Sunday 11th August, Chelsea welcome reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan to West London where Maresca will be hoping to entertain the Stamford Bridge faithful with a strong performance.
Following the game against Inter, the Blues will then prepare for the upcoming season with their opening game at home to the four-in-a-row Premier League champions Manchester City taking place on Sunday 18th August.