Chelsea's pre-season plans for football's shortest summer break after CWC glory
Chelsea's stars have earned the club a fortune but are paying a high price for their Club World Cup success.
Enzo Maresca's squad celebrated hitting the £97m jackpot in price money after lifting the lucrative trophy with a party in New York on Sunday night.
They will then fly off on their holidays for the shortest summer break in football after being given 21 days off before having to report back for a mini pre-season in the week beginning August 4.
Chelsea have then got two friendlies lined up at Stamford Bridge against Bayer Leverkusen on August 8 and AC Milan on August 10 in the Visit Malta Weekender friendlies at Stamford Bridge. That is then followed by Chelsea's opening Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace on Sunday, August 17.
It is an exhausting schedule and the reality is that Chelsea have always regarded the Club World Cup as making the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons rolled into one.
That is how they have approached it and it could just be the hardest two years any of the players have endured in their careers.
And the next month looks particularly difficult for Chelsea after the Premier League refused to help by shifting their opening game with Palace, insisting that was FIFA's fault and the pressure of the modern day calendar against the domestic football schedule.
It does seem a bit mean spirited not to help English clubs thrive in Europe and indeed now on the world stage but that is a long-running frustration for many clubs.
The players in the next three weeks have got different holidays lined up. Marc Cucurella is going on a cruise with his family. Levi Colwill talked about having a break and a complete rest from training… well, at least for a week or so.
The point is that professional athletes are addicted to fitness and, even though many have a week or ten days of doing nothing, almost all keep themselves ticking over and in shape on holiday anyway.
Chelsea's players are under orders to refresh and even Maresca says he needs three weeks to clear his head. Chelsea's Club World Cup final was their 64th game of the season in a campaign which lasted 330 days from start to finish.
Because they have been away in the United States for the past month, they are fit and sharp. You could say it has been a pre-season at the end of the season. And now comes the break.
They were actually afforded plenty of down time in the US and, even on Friday night, Malo Gusto was spotted walking around New York's trendy East Village with pals.
Most are planning get-aways now for a complete rest before returning for a few days of pre-season training and then a couple of warm-ups before the season kicks back in.
They will be sent away with some guidelines and many do not drink anyway but even if they do there will be diet advice and most will run, do weights and generally stay in shape.
We will probably only know the physical toll a few months into next season. And of course for many, there is no let-up because of next summer's World Cup. You can bet the holidays will have to be good.
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