THE BRIGHT lights of Los Angeles will be giving Thomas Tuchel the pre-season Blues right now.
Monday marked just the second training session of Chelsea’s two-week tour of the States and already there is a distinct lack of star quality to lift their spirits.
Raheem Sterling is expected to join the squad at some point in the next few days after completing his £45m move from Manchester City.
He will certainly add some stardust where Romelu Lukaku did not.
But aside from the first signing of the Todd Boehly era, it is clear the new American owner needs to crack on with splashing further cash to get this squad even remotely ready to compete for the title.
If new faces don’t arrive soon, he risks testing the patience of Tuchel – a man who has been through it all these last few months, acting superbly as a political peacemaker in the aftermath of Roman Abramovich’s swift exit while juggling head coach duties.
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German boss Tuchel has worked wonders since guiding the club to the Champions League in his first few months in charge, but is on course to run out of steam with this underwhelming crop.
Chelsea touched down in LA on Saturday ahead of a bumper few weeks in America that will also see them visit Las Vegas, Charlotte and Orlando.
LA is the home of movie stars and exotic luxuries, yet this current group would barely be pulling up trees on home soil in west London.
There is excitement at seeing Conor Gallagher in a Chelsea shirt again, as well as Ben Chilwell returning after a lengthy injury spell, while Mason Mount and Reece James are expected to sign new deals in the near future.
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But this positivity is greatly contrasted by far too many fringe outcasts spoiling the view.
The fact Ross Barkley, Kenedy, Malang Sarr and Michy Batshuayi remain a part of this travelling group is concerning in itself.
Even the inclusion of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech fails to raise much hope, such is the limited impact the duo have made on the club since joining in the summer of 2020.
N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek missed out on boarding the US flight due to their vaccination status.
But what is even more worrying is that Thiago Silva – 38 in September – is the only experienced first-team-quality central defender on the trip.
This will perhaps be Boehly’s biggest task, rebuilding a defence that has lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, while Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso could also be on the move soon.
Former Chelsea defender Nathan Ake has agreed personal terms to add some bulk to Tuchel’s defensive options – but this just scratches the surface when hoping to rival Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
It is why Boehly is focusing on big name stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Matthijs de Ligt to get the ball rolling, yet with moves like that comes pressure for instant success.
That sort of success did not come easy last season, regardless of whether Chilwell recently argued that Chelsea simply need consistency to add to their talent.
Despite lifting both the Club World Cup and Super Cup, they lost in two cup finals, exited the Champions League in the quarter finals and finished 19 points off champs Man City.
This squad is crying out for some fresh injections and new ideas.
For now, this tour is set to confirm what we already know about Tuchel’s Chelsea as they look nervously over their shoulder at their rivals building for the future.
